MUMBAI: Abhishek Sharma lit up the Wankhede Stadium with boundaries as India beat England by 150 runs in the fifth and final T20I to win the series 4-1. The Punjab batter smashed his second T20I century, this time 135 runs from 54 balls, before taking 2/3 as England were bundled out for 97 in the chase of 248.
Opting to field first, England were welcomed with a six off the very first ball as Sanju Samson pulled Jofra Archer into the stands. The short-ball ploy against Samson had worked so far, but this time the India opener was keen to take them on. He went on to hit another six and a four in the same over before falling to Mark Wood.
That, however, in no way affected India as Abhishek went berserk. The southpaw hit 13 sixes and seven boundaries on his way to a 54-ball 135 while the others tried to keep up with him. Tilak Varma (24) and Shivam Dube (30) chipped as India finished with 247/9 in 20 overs.
In response, England lost Ben Duckett early to Mohammed Shami. But as it has been the case, spinners led to the visitors downfall. Ravi Bishnoi (1/9) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/25) set the ball rolling before Abhishek piled on. Dube also took a couple of wickets before Shami came back to finish things of.
The veteran pacer has blown hot and cold since his comeback and will take a lot of confidence from the 3/25 show against England in Mumbai on Sunday. He will be the key focus in the three-match ODI series between the two teams that begins in Nagpur on Thursday.
Brief scores: India 247/9 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 135, Shivam Dube 30; Brydon Carse 3/38) beat England 97 in 10.3 overs (Phil Salt 55; Mohammed Shami 3/25).