England have started their T20 series with India on a sour note after being thrashed in the first fixture at Eden Gardens.
Heading into this five-match batch of games, England are on an unbeaten three-series run, yet it is already a tough ask to extend that streak on the back of losing by seven wickets on Wednesday.
Despite Jos Buttler producing a defiant 68 from 44 balls, England succumbed to 132 all out in their 20 overs, providing India with the platform to attack.
Abhishek Sharma responded with an exhilarating 79 from just 34 balls, incredibly hitting eight sixes during a memorable knock that ensured an easy win for the home side.
Things looked bleak for England from the third ball as Phil Salt departed for a duck, with only one other player - Harry Brook with 17 - in the top eight reaching double figures.
Buttler held firm to keep England competitive to a certain extent, but Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel all taking at least two wickets as they decimated the away side's batting lineup.
Adil Rashid can only laugh.
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) January 22, 2025
Abhishek Sharma is playing some stupidly good cricket. pic.twitter.com/dEzk1wXgoJ
India breeze to target
By the time that England made their breakthrough with the ball, India were already on 41 after 4.2 overs, Jofra Archer taking the wickets of Sanju Samson (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (0).
Nevertheless, Abhishek was simply unstoppable with the bat with 13 of the 34 deliveries that he faced ended up at or over the boundary.
Adil Rashid stopped that charge with what was essentially a token wicket towards the end of the run chase, leaving Tilak Varma's 19 from 16 balls to seal the win after just 12.5 overs.
The England bowling figures made for grim reading as Gus Atkinson conceded 38 runs from two overs and Rashid shipped 27 runs off his 12 deliveries.
Darren Plant
