A blistering century by Jos Buttler, backed by a disciplined all-round bowling display, powered England to a 56-run victory over India in the fifth T20I at The Rose Bowl in in Southampton on Saturday.
The 56-run victory meant India remain winless in the five-match series, which the home side won 4-0 as the opening fixture in Chester-Le-Street was washed out.
Put into bat first, the home side piled up a massive total of 257/3 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a monumental 233-run partnership between Buttler and captain Harry Brook.
England, however, had a contrasting start to their innings as Prasidh Krishna dismissed Phil Salt on the fourth delivery of the second over with just eight runs on the board.
Following the early stutter, skipper Brook joined Buttler in the middle, and the duo turned the game on its head with belligerent hitting and went on to add 233 runs for the second wicket.
The second-highest partnership for any wicket in a men’s T20I, involving full-member nations, culminated on the fourth delivery of the penultimate over when Shivam Dube finally got rid of Buttler, who walked back after top-scoring with a blazing 131 off 64 deliveries, studded with 12 fours and eight sixes.
Dube struck again in the pulsating penultimate over, dismissing Jacob Bethell for a golden duck, but Brook stood his ground and batted until the end.
The England captain returned after playing a sensational 95-run knock, coming off just 45 balls and featuring 12 boundaries, including eight sixes.
For India, Dube picked up two wickets for 22 runs in one over, while Krishna could make one scalp for 38 runs in her four overs.
Set to chase a daunting 258-run target, the reigning world champions could muster 201/8 in their 20 overs despite half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, and thus succumbed to their fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of England.
Kishan remained the top-scorer for the visitors with a 35-ball 56, closely followed by Varma, who made a valiant 53 off 25 deliveries with the help of four sixes and three fours.
Besides them, only captain Shreyas Iyer (28), returning opener Sanju Samson (27) and all-rounder Dube (14) could amass double figures against a disciplined England bowling attack.
Sam Curran was the standout bowler for England as he picked up three wickets for 36 runs in his four overs, followed by Adil Rashid with two, while Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer chipped in with one scalp apiece.
