England 257 for 3 (Buttler 131, Brook 95*) beat India 201 for 8 (Kishan 56, Tilak 53, Curran 3-36) by 56 runs

India’s six-mile journey from their Southampton hotel to the venue took them 90 minutes due to heavy traffic, delaying the toss by 45 minutes. They spent the early afternoon stuck on roads and Shreyas Iyer chose to bowl first on another. He has now won seven tosses but nothing else as India’s captain; England started fast and got even faster to post their third-highest T20I total.

Buttler had not reached 40 in 18 T20I innings since last September, but roared back to form with a 51-ball century that felt like a throwback to his 2018-22 peak: his first 50 took him 34 balls, his next just 17. He celebrated with a thumbs-up towards the England dressing room and a look towards the heavens, after thumping Axar Patel over square leg for six to reach 100.

Brook’s ball-striking was even more outrageous. He reached 50 in 19 balls, his fastest in T20Is, and his hitting over the off side was incredibly pure: five of his eight sixes flew over deep extra cover and long-off. From 85 off 35 balls after 16 overs, the only surprise was that he failed to reach three figures, as India’s seamers finally found the blockhole.

Buttler ends his drought

Buttler endured a wretched T20 World Cup earlier this year and while he scored runs consistently at the IPL, his highest score for losing finalists Gujarat Titans was only 60. He is much closer to the end of his career than the start and will be 38 when the next T20 World Cup is played in late 2028, prompting doubts over his place in T20Is for the first time in his career.

He showed a glimpse of his form with 36 off 21 at Trent Bridge in the third T20I, but this felt like a statement innings from the moment that he got down to scoop his seventh ball for four off Prasidh Krishna. He reverse-slapped Arshdeep Singh for four then swatted his next ball for six, before passing Brook the baton as England accelerated through the middle overs.

Buttler had 72 off 44 when Prince Yadav returned to bowl the 15th over, and reached his hundred seven balls later; he crunched four consecutive boundaries – 4, 6, 6, 4 – off Prince, then hauled Axar for a towering six. He was dropped on 101 by Suryansh Shedge at deep cover and made him pay, drilling back-to-back sixes off Shivam Dube before holing out for 131.

Brook’s brilliance

It is hard to believe that Brook ever batted as low as No. 5 in T20Is, let alone as recently as mid-February. He gave Brendon McCullum credit for his promotion to No. 3 midway through the T20 World Cup but it is Brook himself who has made it work so well: across seven innings in the role, he has averaged 72.4 with a strike rate of 192.55.

Brook played with relentless attacking intent after Phil Salt’s early dismissal; when he charged at his first ball, India burned a review on an optimistic caught-behind appeal. He had a life of sorts off his fourth ball, as a back-tracking Dube made a total hash of a high chance at short third, then belted Prince’s next two balls over the square-leg boundary for six.

He punished both Axar and Shedge whenever they missed their length – and several times when they didn’t – and it took some excellent death-bowling from Arshdeep and Prasidh to deny him a second T20I hundred. He was dropped again on 91 by Ishan Kishan at deep square leg, but could only manage twos off the final two balls to finish 95 not out.

Insipid India

Access is a long-standing issue at the Utilita Bowl, which is served by a single-lane road and struggled to cope with Saturday’s capacity crowd on a sweltering summer’s day. Hampshire did not comment, but the delayed toss was both a source of embarrassment and a warning sign ahead of the venue’s first Ashes Test next summer.

India’s preparation was clearly disrupted by their abbreviated warm-up, but Iyer’s warning shot at the toss – that he did not want to see any players “sulking” – was a reflection of a team whose confidence has been dented by recent results. They were a mess in the field, with three drops and several misfields, and needed to pull off the second-highest chase in T20I history.

It was always a long shot. Sanju Samson, recalled after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s false start in international cricket, cracked two early sixes but chipped to cover-point; Kishan holed out to give Adil Rashid a wicket in his 150th T20I; and Varma edged behind the ball after reaching 50. It meant that, for the first time in a T20I series of four or more games, India ended winless.