IND vs ENG | Abhishek’s 135 defines India’s new fearless approach to complete 4-1 series thumping

Sanju Samson began the fifth T20I with vengeance after India were asked to bat first as he smoked Jofra Archer for a six first and last ball of a huge 16-run first over. However, in a cruel twist of fate, it was fellow express pacer Mark Wood this time that scalped the Kerala batter with yet another miscued pull but it mattered little given what was to follow. Abhishek Sharma took the game by the scruff of the next after scraping just five runs off his first four balls, practically singlehandedly bashing Archer for 18, Wood for 16, and Jamie Overton for 25 runs in consecutive overs enroute to a 17-ball half-century, the second-fastest by a Indian after Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball blitzkrieg in 2007. Jos Buttler turned to spinners Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid for respite, only for Abhishek to muster five more sixes in three overs to take the score to 143/2 at the halfway mark. The magical three-figure mark came up off 37 deliveries, only two behind David Miller and Rohit Sharma’s record for full-member nations but the party was far from over. Two boundaries and three maximums meant Abhishek ended on 135 off 54 by the time he finally holed out off Rashid on the final ball of the 18th over and departed to standing ovation from a belligerent Wankhede. Meanwhile, after a 15-ball cameo for 24 from Tilak, Dube took over the mantle of adding to the visitor’s woes from the other end with a scintillating 13-ball 30 and despite a slew of wickets at the death, India finished on 247/9.

In response, Phil Salt mirrored the hosts’ flying start by stroking two boundaries and a maximum to begin the chase much to Mohammed Shami’s chagrin, taking 23 runs in total while facing the entirety of the first two overs. Ben Duckett must have wished he stayed at the non-striker’s end as Shami resigned him to a golden duck and it was all one-way traffic thereafter. Even though Salt kept going big in his 23-ball knock of 55 featuring seven boundaries and three sixes, no other batter managed to cross over into double digits barring Jacob Bethell. Once Shivam Dube got rid of the duo in consecutive overs, the Three Lions collapsed from 82/4 to 97 all-out including three Shami scalps.

Abhishek Sharma is a brilliant find

— Alok Bugalia (@alok_bugalia) February 2, 2025

Dil jeet liya aaj to abhishek sharma ne to

— INFERNO (@INFERNO2979) February 2, 2025