Cast your minds back to February 2022: the Partygate scandal is in full swing as news breaks of the surprise birthday party held for Boris Johnson two years earlier and four of the prime minister’s top advisers resign; Russia launches a “special military operation” in Ukraine; Adele sweeps artist, song and album of the year awards at the Brits; and India beat West Indies to go to the top of the ICC’s T20 rankings. Finally, 1,601 days and two World Cup wins later, and after a humbling series of defeats across Ireland and England came to an often calamitous crescendo, they have been usurped. Instead England end a couple of phenomenal weeks on top of the world.
An extraordinary, and extraordinarily one-sided, series got the ending it deserved, with England scoring a remarkable 257 for three – breaking the record they set in Mumbai in March for the highest total ever posted against India in T20s – and though the tourists’ chase was, at least for a while, more spirited than much of their fielding they managed only 201. England won the game by 56 runs and the series 4-0.
It was, to put it mildly, a tough day to be an Indian bowler. Jos Buttler, under pressure after a run of 18 innings without a half century in this format, produced the greatest of his career and the second-highest score by any Englishman with 131, off just 64 deliveries. Harry Brook finished unbeaten on 95, and it is a marker of his form that of his six fastest-scoring T20 innings of at least 15 balls three have come in this series. Their partnership of 233 was England’s best ever in T20s, the best ever against India – by the massive margin of 59 – and the fifth best in all recorded T20s of any type.
“When you go a long time without scoring runs you think the guys at the top might be thinking, ‘It’s time to move him on,’” Buttler said. “In a weird way that gave me a lot more freedom today – if I was going to fail, I’ll do it on my own terms. Days like this feel amazing. I think what I’ve missed is that feeling, the feeling of contributing to a series win, to winning games for England. I’ve just missed batting, the feeling of being in control and playing well. There’s been days where you wonder if you’ll ever score 100 again in an England shirt, and I’m delighted to be able to do that.”
Both batters were dropped in a ragged, sometimes puzzling and in its final moments comic display in the field from India. Buttler had already banked a century when his reprieve came, Suryansh Shedge putting down an easy chance at deep midwicket with the batter on 101 off 52. But Brook had only three when he top-edged Prince Yadav high to deep third and Shivam Dube ran back a little too enthusiastically, realised he had gone too far and ended up diving backwards, failing even to lay a finger on the ball as it fell to earth. Brook, with savage inevitability, hit the next two for six (and later, in similar circumstances, returned the favour by dropping Dube).
The England captain was dropped again in the final over, inexplicably, by Ishan Kishan, as India’s fielding, poor throughout the series, took a downward turn at its very end. England’s 19th over was certainly their oddest: Dube was asked to bowl for the first time, Shreyas Iyer having hidden him from England’s swashbuckling duo for as long as he could before finally running out of options. Six more or less terrible deliveries brought three sixes, a four and two catches in the deep.
By the end of England’s innings India looked a team that had already accepted defeat, but these are still world champions and there was a bit of fight in them yet. They kept pace with England’s scoring through the early stages of their innings, with Sanju Samson – back in the team in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – brutal in racing to 27 off 14 before he rather limply prodded Sam Curran to cover point. With Abhishek Sharma going early for three they reached halfway on 110 for two, one run fewer and one wicket more than England’s score at the same point.
But Iyer miscued the first ball after drinks to point, that over – from Liam Dawson – went for only five and from there the game rapidly slipped out of their control. Half-centuries from Kishan, who scored 56 off 35, and Tilak Varma (53 off 25) helped India avoid humiliation if not, given this team’s status and ambition, severe embarassment.
“It definitely hurts, but I feel it’s a great learning for me as a captain and also for the other players who have played here for the first time,” Iyer said. “You can’t just have that mindset that you will come to England and you will win the series – you need to work hard, you need to be focused, which we were as a team. But I feel they played exceptional cricket throughout in all three departments and that’s why the results went in their favour.”
