MUMBAI: Batting prodigy Abhishek Sharma went trailblazing as he scored an impressive 134 runs in 54 balls in the final match of the Twenty20 series against England. The player hit 13 sixes and seven boundaries as India scored 247 for nine in the allotted overs. India had already won the five-match series.
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and sent India into bat. Malayali player Sanju Samson hit the first bowl of the innings to a six to kickstart a power-packed start for the team. Sanju scored 16 runs including two sixes in the first over bowled by Jofra Archer. But the Kerala batsman got his shot misplaced in the next over as he tried to loft the bowl to deep square. Sanju was dismissed for 16 runs.
After Sanju's dismissal, Abhishek took control of the innings while Tilak Verma offered him the needed support. Captain Suryakumar Yadav 2(3) disappointed once again. Shivam Dubey scored 30 runs in 13 balls. Hardik Pandya 9(6) and Rinku Singh 9(6) failed to shine.
Most of the top-ranked English bowlers failed to find the tempo in the match. Most of them had to give away costly overs. Only Brydon Carse, who conceded 38 runs in four overs and took three wickets, and Mark Wood, with two wickets and 32 runs, showed fighting spirit.