IND vs ENG Live Score, 4th T20I: World champs India in do-or-die situation to save series and face

IND vs ENG Live Score, 4th T20I: There is no soft way to frame where India are. They trail 0-2 after their heaviest defeat in T20I history. England bowled them out for 76 at Trent Bridge and won by 125 runs, with Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue sharing seven wickets between them and India’s top five gone almost before the innings had started. Shreyas Iyer called the performance “atrocious”. He was not exaggerating. Lose today, and England take the series with a game still to play, which would be India’s second bilateral T20I series defeat in the space of two weeks after Ireland.

The mood around this Indian side has shifted from curiosity to real pressure. Chants of “We want Sanju” were heard outside Trent Bridge as the team bus pulled away. Sanju Samson, the player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, has been left out since Old Trafford to make room for 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and has now also been left out of the Zimbabwe squad later this month, which has only sharpened the debate about how India are handling their World Cup winners. Iyer, meanwhile, is still searching for his first win as captain and has lost ten of his last 11 completed games in charge going back to the IPL. Bristol is where all of that either turns around or gets a lot worse.

IND vs ENG 4th T20I match preview

India

The trouble runs deeper than any single batter. India’s top order is made up almost entirely of left-handers, and England’s bowlers have read it comfortably twice in a row. Shreyas Iyer is the only right-hander in the top six, and the pressure to break up that pattern is why Samson’s recall is the most talked-about selection call of the tour. If he comes back, someone makes way, and Tilak Varma’s own dip in form puts him in the frame despite his vice-captaincy. India may also look at Suryansh Shedge for Shivam Dube to add a right-handed option in the middle, or Washington Sundar for Axar Patel as insurance against another top-order collapse.

The bowling is a smaller worry than the batting, but not by much. Prince Yadav impressed on return with 2 for 32 at Trent Bridge, one of the few Indian performances worth keeping. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana lead the pace attack, with Varun Chakravarthy the main spin threat. The issue is that none of it matters if the batting keeps folding inside 12 overs.

England

England barely need to think about changes. Phil Salt found form with a 44-ball 70. Jos Buttler looked more like himself with 36 off 22. And the Archer-Tongue new-ball pairing, both bowling around 90mph, has been the single biggest difference between the sides. Harry Brook’s team has won 18 of its last 21 completed T20Is and can close this out early.

Predicted IND vs ENG Playing XIs

Predicted England XI

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue 

Predicted India XI

Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma/Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy 

Where to watch England vs India live?

The England vs India 4th T20I is live in India on Sony Sports Network, with streaming on the JioHotstar app and website. Toss is scheduled for 9:30 PM IST, with the first ball at 10:00 PM IST (5:30 PM local time in Bristol).