India put on an all-round show at the Wankhede Stadium, blowing England away in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday. Opener Abhishek Sharma entered history books with his 54-ball 135, the second-fastest century and the highest score by an Indian batter in T20Is. While Abhishek's knock was surely the highlight of the record-breaking night in Mumbai, the catching and fielding deserved a big shoutout. Save Phil Salt's 23-55 ball, the rest of the England players perished for cheap after attempting big shots.
India took some stunning catches in the outfield, but Varun Chakravarthy's attempt at long-on got the seal of approval from India head coach Gautam Gambhir.
The incident happened on the first ball of the 8th over when Brydon Carse tried to heave Abhishek down the ground, only for Chakravarthy to grab the ball near the boundary line.
It wasn't an easy catch as Chakravarthy had to cover a lot of ground. Reacting to the catch, Gambhir, who was sitting on the dugout near the boundary, gave a stunning reaction.
India's win by 150 runs is now their second biggest by margin of runs in T20Is after their 168-run hammering of New Zealand in 2023.
Salt's initial onslaught of a 23-ball 55 with seven fours and three sixes kept England on track for a mammoth chase, but rest of the batters produced an uninspired show, crumbling like ninepins at the Wankhede Stadium.
The major chunk of England batters - Ben Duckett (0), Buttler (7), Harry Brook (2) and Liam Livingstone (9) - together made an embarrassing 18 runs on a perfect batting track.
There wasn't any resistance from the tail either. After hammering their bowlers, Abhishek returned to haunt England batters to take two wickets (2/3) in his only over, dismissing Brydon Carse (3) and Jamie Overton (1).
Mohammed Shami returned 3/25, Shivam Dube took 2/11, Varun Chakravarthy claimed 2/25 and Ravi Bishnoi bagged 1/9.
But the night belonged to only one man as Abhishek tore into the English bowling with disdain, producing a knock of the highest quality, replete with compelling strokes against pace and spin alike as he etched his name in record books.
(With PTI Inputs)