IND vs ENG Live Score, 5th T20I: Dead rubber for the series, but not meaningless for India

IND vs ENG Live Score, 5th T20I: The series is gone! And India head to Southampton for the 5th T20I, which is effectively a dead rubber, but meaningless? No. World champions India have a point to prove and show the world why they were unbeaten in 16 consecutive T20 series on the trot. A loss at the Rose Bowl will hand over the ICC world no. 1 spot to England, and a win here will slightly improve Team India’s spirits after battering in Ireland and England.  

England wrapped it up in Bristol on Thursday with a nine-wicket demolition, chasing down 159 inside 14 overs on the back of a Harry Brook show, an unbeaten 79 off 35 that made the total look ordinary. That was 3-0 in a five-match series (the Durham opener was washed out), England’s first-ever bilateral T20I series win over India, and their second thrashing of the week after the 125-run rout at Trent Bridge. 

IND vs ENG 5th T20I match preview

India

India’s batting has been the story of this series, and not in a good way. Outside of Shreyas Iyer, who has two of the three fifties India’s batters have managed across the whole series, nobody has offered sustained resistance to England’s pace. Iyer’s unbeaten 80 in Bristol was another lone effort, and by now the whole batting order leans on him more than any team would want. 

The Sanju Samson question that dominated the build-up to Bristol is likely to resurface here. But with the series lost, India may equally decide to keep looking at younger options like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi rather than reverting to experience.

The bigger problem is that India simply have not been able to handle Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue with the new ball. The pair have shared wickets in every completed match, using pace and bounce that India’s top order has had no answer to. With Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana ruled out of the 5th T20I, India do not have a lot of options to pick from. Hence, they may stick to the same combination regardless.

England

England have no reason to tinker with a side that has won three on the trot. Phil Salt has back-to-back fifties, Brook is in the form of his life as captain, and Buttler looked more fluent in Bristol. A settled, confident side chasing a 4-0 sweep and top ranking is a difficult prospect for an India team low on confidence.

Predicted IND vs ENG Playing XIs

Predicted England Playing XI

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

Predicted India Playing XI

Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (capt), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube/Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna 

India’s record in Southampton in T20Is

India have played just one men’s T20I at The Rose Bowl, and it was a good day. On the 2022 tour, Rohit Sharma won the toss, chose to bat, and India posted 198 for 8, built around Hardik Pandya’s maiden T20I fifty and quickfire contributions from Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda. Pandya then took 4 for 33 as India bowled England out for 148 to win by 50 runs. That was also Arshdeep Singh’s T20I debut, and he is one of the few players from that night still in the current side.

So India’s T20I record at this ground reads played one, won one, with no defeats. The wider picture is more mixed. India have played ODIs and Tests here too, and their Test memories at the Rose Bowl are grim, including heavy defeats in 2014 and 2018. But in the shortest format specifically, India have nothing but a positive result to look back on in Southampton, which is a small crumb of comfort at the end of a difficult tour.

Rose Bowl pitch report

The Rose Bowl, also known as the Utilita Bowl or Ageas Bowl, is one of England’s better batting surfaces in the shortest format. It is a true pitch with pace and bounce, and the straight boundaries are inviting for batters who get through the powerplay. Fast bowlers do get some early movement, so the new ball matters, but once the ball is old this becomes a strong ground for stroke play.

The numbers back that reputation. The average first-innings score in men’s T20Is here is around 176, and the ground has produced totals as high as 248, a mark both Australia and England have reached. A first-innings score in the 185 to 195 range should be competitive on Saturday, and if either top order gets going, something close to 200 is on. Teams batting first have won nine of the 13 men’s T20Is played at this venue, which gives a clear, if not overwhelming, edge to setting a total.

Given the hot, dry conditions forecast, expect the surface to play true and fast, which favours the batters and points toward a high-scoring finale.

Toss verdict: Bat first. History at the Rose Bowl and the conditions both favour posting a big score.