This England team’s recent heatwave continued in Bristol, India wilting to lose their cool, the game and the series in what turned into another bizarrely one-sided encounter. Timid with the bat, poor in the field, error-prone with the ball and swift to accept the inevitably of defeat, this was a complete horror show from the world champions and a performance of complete dominance from Harry Brook’s burgeoning side, who won by nine wickets and will overtake their opponents as world No 1 if they win the final game of the series in Southampton on Saturday.
Brook says this team “can go to some special places”, and top of the rankings would certainly count as one. He talks often about adapting to conditions, as England have done impressively this year in a series in Sri Lanka, in the World Cup in that country and in India, and now also at home.
