Rishi Sunak, a man well versed in seismic defeats, was present to watch another. The former prime minister was among the spectators in Mumbai as India’s Abhishek Sharma struck a ridiculous 54-ball 135 to set up a 150‑run win against England in the fifth and final Twenty20 international.

Sharma’s hands flew on the way to 13 sixes, his final return the highest score by an India batter in T20 internationals. Forget the English, none of his teammates could match him either; Shivam Dube’s 13-ball 30 was the next best contribution as India put together a total of 247 for nine.

England had to go at it immediately and while Phil Salt provided a 23-ball 55, Jacob Bethell was the only other batter to reach double figures. Sharma snuck in a couple of wickets at the back-end too. The tourists perished for just 97, this their biggest T20 defeat in terms of runs, India on the right end of a 4-1 series scoreline.

“I’ve played quite a lot of cricket and credit to Abhishek Sharma, that’s as clean a ball-striking as I’ve seen, he played fantastically well,” the England captain, Jos Buttler, said. “Looking back at the last IPL, him and Travis Head were the same at the top of the order for Sunrisers [Hyderabad] and he’s brought that into India.”

Replaced midway through Friday’s match by a concussion replacement, Dube was deemed fit enough to play by India just two days later, a decision that mocked the seriousness of such an injury. At the toss Buttler pointedly named those not in England’s XI for the match as “our four impact subs”, the controversy of the previous game lingering on.

But history was soon forgotten by the kid from the future. Sharma had begun the series with a 34-ball 79 but this was a more pulverising knock, the carnage beginning after Sanju Samson’s early pull shot found a fielder, a familiar sight in the past fortnight. Sharma welcomed Jofra Archer and Mark Wood’s pace and any width they gave in the powerplay. The opener was lethal on the cut and when both quicks went full, he drove over the ropes and along the carpet.

The 24-year-old went to a 17-ball half-century, dominating a second‑wicket stand of 115 with Tilak Varma, who contributed 24 from 15 balls. Spin did not cause Sharma much trouble either, mis‑hits still clearing the boundary and Liam Livingstone on the end of a one‑handed six over extra cover. The left-hander’s century arrived at the start of the 11th over, 37 balls taken to get there, the second-fastest for India. A historic total of 300 could not be ruled out.

England, to their credit, did not wilt with the ball. Brydon Carse impressed with three wickets, his short stuff cramping Varma and Dube. Sharma was kept off strike for much of the second half of the innings amid regular breakthroughs but did still manage a pair of sixes off Adil Rashid before his demise at the end of the 18th over. England players offered Sharma their handshakes, the rest of the Wankhede their adulation.

Ultra-aggression was required in the chase and Salt peppered away, driving Mohammed Shami for a couple of fours before thumping the third ball of the innings over deep midwicket for six. Ben Duckett and Buttler fell quickly, the responsibility falling on Salt, England’s top-order bruiser, to play the long game.

Harry Brook could not join Salt for a productive stand either, a sweep gone wrong against Ravi Bishnoi finding Varun Chakravarthy’s hands in the deep, the England No 4’s discomfort against spin continuing. Livingstone came in for a five-ball nine, swinging hard but eventually into the hands of Rinku Singh off Chakravarthy, the player of the series.

No one could connect with the ball quite like Salt, who had struggled for runs heading into this, his half-century taking 21 balls. But Dube, the man in focus, nicked off Salt in the eighth over as the tumble continued, the innings done halfway through the 11th. “With the bat, I’ve played in a few games like this and it generally goes one of two ways,” Buttler said. “You either get somewhere near or you fall in a heap and today was that day.”

Sharma’s left-arm spin was called upon for one over, dismissing Carse and Jamie Overton while conceding three runs. This was his night and no one else’s.