An unbeaten century stand between Harry Brook and Phil Salt powered England to a comprehensive nine-wicket win over India with 6.1 overs to spare in Bristol, sealing an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series and their first bilateral series win over India across formats since 2019. The defeat extended India's winless run in T20Is to six matches since their T20 World Cup triumph in March.

Defending a below-par 158, India made the ideal start when Arshdeep Singh dismissed Jos Buttler in the third over, inducing an outside edge after the wicketkeeper-batter had struck a straight six the previous ball. At 22 for 1, India briefly had an opening, with Phil Salt taking 10 balls to get off the mark as the new-ball bowlers extracted enough movement and uneven bounce to keep England in check.

Any hopes of a contest, however, were quickly extinguished by Brook, who put India on the back foot with an audacious scooped six off Arshdeep before racing away with a series of inventive strokes. Salt, after his watchful start, found his rhythm too, capitalising on a no-ball from Prince Yadav before taking apart the seamers as England ended the Powerplay on 62 for 1.

India's spinners found little assistance either. Brook tore into Washington Sundar with three boundaries and a six in a 19-run over before bringing up a 21-ball half-century with another towering six off Axar Patel. Salt soon joined the party, launching Axar over extra cover for six as the second-wicket stand swelled beyond 100.

Salt completed a 37-ball fifty with a boundary off Prasidh Krishna while Brook continued to improvise effortlessly, mixing scoops, ramps and orthodox drives to finish unbeaten on 79 off 35.

Earlier, India won yet another toss but England's disciplined attack restricted them to 158 for 7 despite Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 80. On a surface where the ball held up and the bounce was spongy, England's pace attack stuck to hard lengths and reaped early rewards. Jofra Archer removed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the second game running, inducing a top-edge with another short ball, before Josh Tongue dismissed Ishan Kishan in similar fashion as India slipped to 32 for 2 in the fifth over.

Abhishek Sharma briefly counterattacked with 16 but became Adil Rashid's first victim, miscuing an attempted slog across the line back to the bowler immediately after the Powerplay. India reached only 44 for 2 in the first six overs - their slowest Powerplay of the series - before falling to 48 for 3.

With stroke-making proving difficult, Shreyas and Shivam Dube focused on rebuilding. Their 53-run stand steadied the innings but progressed at a modest pace, with England's mix of spin and slower balls ensuring boundaries remained scarce through the middle overs. Will Jacks eventually broke the stand by deceiving Dube with a slower delivery.

After bringing up a patient half-century, Shreyas finally broke free against Rashid in the 18th over, taking the legspinner for 20 runs with two sixes and a four. His assault also saw him score 44 runs off just 16 balls against Rashid, the joint second-most by an Indian batter against a bowler in a T20I.

England, however, wrested back control immediately. Tongue dismissed Tilak Varma with a slower ball after the left-hander had struck a six, before Sam Curran and Archer nailed their variations at the death. India failed to find a boundary in the final two overs, managing only eight runs while losing Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, with Archer capping off the innings by effecting Axar Patel's run-out after Shreyas had finished unbeaten on 80 off 49.

Brief scores: India 158/7 (Shreyas Iyer 80*; Jofra Archer 2-20, Josh Tongue 2-36) lost to England 159/1 in 13.5 overs (Harry Brook 79*, Phil Salt 59*; Arshdeep Singh 1-41) by 9 wickets.