Super Sharma show

Opener Abhishek Sharma stole the show to become Indiarsquos highest individual scorer before England folded up for 97 in a 150run victory for India in the fifth and final T20I at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday nightWith India having already clinched the series the 24yearold lefthander from Punjab smashed 13 sixes and seven fours to post 135 from only 54 deliveriesIn doing so he moved past the previous highest individual score mdash an unbeaten 126 by Shubman Gill against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in February 2023 Sharmarsquos 13 sixes are the most by an Indian in T20ISharma had a chance to score the fastest T20I hundred by an Indian but missed it by three deliveries When on 94 from 32 deliveries he was one hit away from beating Rohit Sharmarsquos 35ball record set against Sri Lanka in Indore in December 2017Dealing in boundariesSharma however reached his second T20I hundred in his 17th appearance with a single off his 37th delivery a single off Brydon Carse on the offside taking him to the coveted threefigure mark Sharma was dealing in fours and sixes that made up for 80 per cent of his first hundred runs and 7852 per cent of his total runsSharma also has Indiarsquos second fastest fifty in 17 deliveries five more than his mentor Yuvraj Singh who took 12 deliveries against the same country in the 2007 T20 World Cup Despite the 35 dots India posted their fourth highest T20I score of 2479 which was enough in the end to give them a 150run victory and the series 41 This was Indiarsquos second biggest victory in terms of runsEngland were bowled out for 97 in just 103 overs to suffer their worst defeat in terms of runs in this formatIndiarsquos sixhitting 19 of them began with the first delivery of the match when Sanju Samson pulled Jofra Archer to midwicket and followed it with another to deep backward square leg four deliveries later However Samson fell in the next over to Mark Wood in the same fashion that has resulted in his downfall in the previous four matches pulling straight to the fielder set on the leg sideSharma got into sixhitting mode with backtoback hits off Archer in front of square on the offside He dominated the secondwicket stand of 115 in just 43 balls with Tilak Varma the latterrsquos contribution being 24 Sharma often used the pace of the England bowlers and guided the ball over the ropes but he also added power to the shots some of his straight hits clearing the boundary with ease straining the necks of the English fielders on the boundary line Sharma was chiefly responsible for India posting their best total in the Powerplay 951Abhishek picks two wicketsThe day undoubtedly belonged to manofthematch Sharma He even had a hand in Englandrsquos first wicket catching Ben Duckett at cover off Mohd Shami and also took two wickets in the only over of leftarm spin that he bowledEngland had no choice but to go for big shots and in the process offered one catch too many in the outfield England needed a Sharmaesque knock from one of their toporder and their wicketkeeperbatsman Phil Salt seemed to be that batter He gave England a 17run firstover start off Shami but then wickets fell at the other end before he was fifth out for 55 His dismissal to Shivam Dubersquos first delivery in the eighth over all but settled the match in Indiarsquos favour13No of sixes hit by Abhishek on Sunday is the most by an Indian in a T20I inningsBrief scoresIndia 2479 in 20 overs A Sharma 135 S Dube 30 B Carse 338 M Wood 232 beat England 97 all out in 103 overs P Salt 55 M Shami 325 A Sharma 23 S Dube 211 V Chakravarthy 225 by 150 runs