England kept their bid to dislodge India as the world’s No 1 Twenty20 team on track by inflicting a record 125-run defeat upon them at Trent Bridge.Needing to complete a 4-0 series victory to replace the world champions at the top of the ICC rankings, Harry Brook’s team went two up with matches in Bristol and Southampton remaining thanks to a pugnacious 44-ball 70 from Phil Salt and new-ball hostility in defence of a 202-run target.Back on the ground where Ben Stokes waved goodbye to international cricket in a galling loss to New Zealand last week, England showed that this is the format in which they are currently happiest: this was their 18th victory in 21 matches.In contrast, India’s biggest ever loss by runs – surpassing the 80 they were shy of New Zealand in 2019 – means they are now in their joint-worst sequence of results in 20 years of T20.Two months ago, on the back of retaining their Twenty20 World Cup title, India sat on 275 points, 13 ahead of second-placed England, but the gap was closed to six on the back of Ireland’s sock 2-0 series win over Shreyas Iyer’s men and a Jacob Bethell-inspired success at Old Trafford last weekend.This one was set up by an uncharacteristically slow start to an innings by Salt, who had managed just one half century in his previous 11 Twenty20 internationals. England kept their bid to dislodge India as the world’s No 1 Twenty20 team on track Harry Brook’s men went 2-0 up in the five-match series with a crushing 125-run victoryIt was not until his seventh delivery that he got off the mark and it took a couple of misfields from the Indians to boost his boundary count on the way to 50 off 36 deliveries.The early momentum had been provided by Jos Buttler, who contributed 36 of a 43-run opening stand, but keeping wickets in hand proved crucial for an England team that pierced the gaps, cleared the ropes and ran 15 twos in a hugely impressive innings powered beyond 200 by Sam Curran’s unbeaten 41.While England punished a medium pace, spin heavy attack, India were bombarded at the start of their chase as the average speed of the first five overs sent down by Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue was 89.9 miles per hour. Phil Salt bludgeoned a pugnacious 44-ball 70 at the top of the innings for England Jos Buttler provided early momentum, contributing 36 of a 43-run opening standIndian fans in a sell-out crowd were here to see 15-year-old wunderkind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but just as on his debut in Manchester, a couple of sixes could not disguise his discomfort against the short ball, and his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Archer celebrated a feathered hook through to Buttler – the second of five power play wickets.Tongue’s maiden T20 dismissal had preceded it, the first of four for the Nottinghamshire fast bowler on his home ground, and none of India’s players could match Sooryavanshi’s age on an evening when former India great Mahendra Singh Dhoni was left with his head in his hands in one of the ground’s hospitality boxes.