India suffered a humiliating 125-run defeat against a ruthless England unit in the third T20I of the five-match series at Trent Bridge, capitulating completely in an absolute batting disaster class. The visitors batted first and set a mammoth target of 202 runs for the hosts. In response, India’s batting lineup folded like a pack of cards, getting completely skittled out for a humiliating 76 in just 11.4 overs. That absolute annihilation leaves England with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Earlier in the evening, English opening batter Phil Salt laid a gargantuan total single-handedly. Salt weaponised the true bounce of the Nottingham surface, blasting a destructive 70 runs off just 44 deliveries, featuring seven boundaries and three massive sixes. Skipper Jos Buttler supported Salt’s blitz with a quickfire 36 off 21 balls while all-rounder Sam Curran provided a clinical finish in the death overs with a brisk 41 off 24 balls. Indian debutant Prince Yadav (2/30) and Harshit Rana (2/40) managed to pick up some wickets late on, but England still cruised to a challenging 201/7 in their 20 overs.
The mountain of a run chase completely shattered India’s top order before they could even gather any momentum. Pace sensation Jofra Archer tore through the visitors first time, taking a sensational 3/29 to claim Player of the Match honours. But the wrecking ball of the innings was the right-arm pacer Josh Tongue. Tongue produced some vicious bounce and subtle seam movement to return staggering career-best figures of 4-28 from his four-over spell.
Veteran spinner Adil Rashid then mopped up the tail with 2/14, leaving India’s young experimental side totally gasping for solutions. Only Ishan Kishan (13) and young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (13) could cross more than 10 runs in what would go down as one of the lowest and painful structural collapses in the modern T20 international history. With the series slipping out of their grasp comprehensively, India’s team management face a critical, quick turnaround ahead of a must-win fourth encounter in Bristol on Thursday.
