Under pressure to deliver, Shreyas Iyer's India suffered a humiliating 125-run defeat, handing England a 2-0 series lead in the ongoing T20I series.
Iyer
won the toss and elected to bowl, watching his bowlers restrict England to 201/7. Phil Salt was the start with a scintillating 70, while Sam Curran scored an unbeaten 41 to take them over the 200-mark. For India, Prince Yadav and Harshit Rana picked up a couple each in their spells, while Axar Patel got the other wicket, with two being run outs.
The Indian batting unit crumbled spectacularly in the chase. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi provided a fleeting 13 off 5 before Archer struck. Iyer himself fell for a mere 5 as India were skittled for 76 in 11.4 overs - one of their worst T20I displays. Spin from Adil Rashid and pace from Josh Tongue exposed the visitors' fragility. Ishan Kishan's 13 was the highest score for India.
For Iyer, still seeking his first win as T20I captain on this tour, the collapse raises fresh questions over leadership, team selection, and batting depth in overseas conditions. India now face a must-win situation to stay alive in the series, as Iyer has already been part of a humiliating record early in his captaincy stint, being winless in five matches.
And after the match, the India captain was vocal against his team's batting performance, which was way below expectations.
"It was atrocious, losing by that margin is not acceptable. First things first, we have to accept the loss and go back to the drawing board. I don't think it was a 200 wicket. We lost four wickets in the powerplay, and that itself pushed us back. You can plan a lot, but once you come to the ground, you need to adapt," Iyer said after the match.
"We need to comeback strong and not dwell too much about the past. Every individual has to think and see how they can contribute to the team," he added.
