Manchester: England comfortably chased down a target of 191 with an over to spare as Jacob Bethell delivered an electrifying unbeaten match-winning knock of 76 off 46 balls, guiding England to a convincing four-wicket victory over the world champions in the second T20I of the five-match series at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester on Saturday, 4 July.
The match started with an iconic milestone as teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his T20I debut and became the youngest player to represent India in international cricket. At just 15 years and 99 days old, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing Indian record. India won the toss and elected to bat first. With this decision, openers provided a brilliant start. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi started impressively, smashing two towering sixes before falling cheaply as he was stumped by Jos Buttler off the bowling of Will Jacks after scoring 14 off 10 balls. Abhishek Sharma provided another quick and aggressive start with 43 off 24 balls but fell on the last ball of the powerplay, leaving India at 65/2 after six overs. After Abhishek’s wicket, captain Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan stitched together a crucial 65-run partnership for the third wicket. Iyer scored a fluent 37 off 22 balls before being dismissed. India were well placed at 130/3 in 12.6 overs, but after losing a few quick wickets, they found themselves struggling at 165/6. Ishan fell just one run short of his half-century. Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on a valuable 24 off just 11 deliveries, helping India post a competitive total of 190/7 after their allotted 20 overs.
England started the second innings with an early setback as they lost both openers, Phil Salt and Jos Buttler, for ducks in the very first over to Arshdeep Singh. However, captain Harry Brook counter-attacked brilliantly with a fiery 39 off just 15 balls before edging Axar Patel, with wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan holding on to the thinnest of edges behind the stumps. With that dismissal, Axar reached the landmark of 100 T20I wickets, becoming the first Indian spinner to achieve the remarkable feat in the format. He ended his impressive four-over spell with figures of 1/20, claiming one crucial wicket. Tom Banton and Jacob Bethell then built a vital 67-run partnership to rebuild England’s innings. However, the return of Arshdeep Singh broke the partnership as Banton was dismissed after scoring a well-made 39 off 32 balls. Bethell then led the chase superbly and accelerated the scoreboard by taking full advantage of Ravi Bishnoi’s expensive 17th over, in which the leg-spinner bowled two no-balls and conceded 29 runs. Bishnoi proved very costly and finished with figures of 0/60 from his four overs without taking a wicket. Bethell played a electrifying unbeaten knock of 76 off 46 balls, smashing five fours and five sixes, and deservedly won the Player of the Match award. England finished the chase at 191/6 with six balls to spare.
The opening match of the series was washed out. England lead the five-match T20I series 1-0, with three matches remaining. The two teams will face each other in the third T20I on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England.
