England vs India T20 result: Rohit Sharma ton sends Eoin Morgan’s men to series defeat in Bristol
India won by seven wickets to clinch the T20 series 2-1 and draw first blood on their tour
ENGLAND wilted to T20 series defeat in scorching Bristol after being punished by Rohit Sharma's brilliance.
Eoin Morgan's men felt the heat from India's opening batsman as the tourists won by seven wickets to clinch a 2-1 series victory.
Sharma's excellent unbeaten 100 saw India draw first blood on their long tour.
England were brought crashing back down to earth after the highs of thrashing Australia 6-0 in the limited-overs format.
And Morgan's side must regroup before the three-match ODI series begins on Thursday in Nottingham.
England fell short with the bat after a lightning quick start had them looking at a total touching 250.
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Virat Kohli opted for the extra seamer in debutant Deepak Chahar given the grassy nature of the pitch, but it proved flat and true and his fast bowlers were taken apart early on.
Openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler smashed 73 from the opening six overs that left fans inside the small ground ducking for cover.
Siddarth Kaul, who replaced the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, finally gave the large Indian contingent in the stands something to cheer about when he knocked back Buttler's off stump in the eighth over.
Roy reached 50 in 23 deliveries and was eventually dismissed for 67 having brought up England's 100 in just nine overs.
Only spinner Yuzvendra Chahal gave Kohli any control, making the decision to drop Kuldeep Yadav - England's tormentor at Old Trafford on Tuesday with five wickets - even more baffling.
England had a ton of firepower in the shed including the returning Ben Stokes, who replaced Joe Root.
Alex Hales (30) and Eoin Morgan (6) both fell to catches from MS Dhoni in the space of five balls to leave England sweating on making the 200-mark.
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And when Hardik Pandya dismissed Stokes (14) and Jonny Bairstow (25) in the 18th over, England were left needing a wag from their tail.
Dhoni finished with five catches, the first wicketkeeper to do so in a T20 and ran out Jordan with the final delivery to give India some momentum heading into the chase.
And Sharma punished England's fast bowlers in the same way as Roy and Buttler did earlier in the day.
England managed to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan (5) and KL Rahul (19), the latter to a stunning catch from Chris Jordan, but the runs and boundaries continued to flow.
Sharma brought up his 50 in 28 deliveries and India were 100-2 at the halfway stage with Kohli poised to take India home on 20.
Jordan took another excellent catch, this time off his own bowling to send Kohli (43) on his way and give England hope with five overs to play.
India needed 44 off the final four overs, and Sharma and Pandya targeted Jake Ball's last over - smashing it for 15 runs.
And Willey's next over was smashed for 20 runs to leave India just needing a run a ball.
Sharma brought up his century in the 19th over, and Pandya finished things in emphatic style with a crunching six over long on.