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3rd T20I | England vs India T20I Series 2026 | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 7 July 2026
Jofra Archer against Sanju Samson and Adil Rashid against Abhishek Sharma will shape Trent Bridge on Tuesday. Archer has dismissed Samson three times in T20Is, and Rashid’s leg-spin remains the biggest unknown for India’s top order heading into the match. England lead the series 1-0 after their Manchester win, and control in these two contests would keep that edge intact for the hosts. India need firm answers from both bowlers before this series can realistically be levelled at Trent Bridge on Tuesday afternoon.
Rain washed out the series opener at Durham, where India had declared on 189 for 7 with Abhishek Sharma making 59 off 24 balls and Shreyas Iyer adding 68.
England found their first win of the tour at Old Trafford. India posted 190 for 7, and England chased it down with four wickets in hand, Jacob Bethell finishing unbeaten on 76 to put England 1-0 up with three matches left. England now hold the initiative heading into Trent Bridge, while India need to solve two specific bowling problems to restore parity.
No individual matchup carries more history than Archer against Samson. Across six T20I innings, Archer has removed Samson three times, every dismissal coming during the 2025 India-England home series.
Before this year’s T20 World Cup, Samson’s record against Archer read 25 runs off 23 balls at an average of 8.33 and a strike rate of 108.7. The Wankhede semi-final changed that picture. Samson took Archer for 38 off 14 deliveries at a strike rate of 271.4, pushing his career tally against the pacer to 63 runs off 37 balls.
The two have never met in the IPL despite both wearing Rajasthan Royals colours. Each of the three dismissals came from the same trap: a short ball Samson could not keep down. Whether Archer repeats that method at Trent Bridge is the contest worth watching closest.
Form complicates the picture further. Samson has managed just 5, 0 and 1 in his last three innings against pace this tour, the Durham score coming off 7 balls before Saqib Mahmood removed him at backward point.
He did not feature in Manchester. Sooryavanshi came in for his debut instead, and Samson’s place in the XI for Trent Bridge remains unconfirmed. If he returns, he arrives with almost no form and a painful history against the exact bowler he could face inside the powerplay.
The other duel suggested by this fixture is Rashid against Abhishek Sharma, but the numbers are not there to support it yet. No credible source carries a verified head-to-head figure between the two in T20I cricket.
What is verifiable is how Abhishek has been dismissed this series. At Durham, he made 59 off 24 before Sam Curran trapped him lbw with a leg cutter. In Manchester, he added 43 off 24 before Josh Tongue found the edge at deep midwicket off the final powerplay ball. Rashid bowled in the middle and death overs against India’s lower order on both occasions, not against Abhishek.
None of that diminishes Abhishek’s broader threat. He has scored 347 runs against England in T20Is at a strike rate above 219, his best record against any opponent. Rashid may get his chance at Trent Bridge, but this is a matchup still waiting to be written.
England look set to name an unchanged XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler behind the stumps, Harry Brook as captain, Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Rashid, Archer and Tongue.
India’s picture carries more doubt. Tilak Varma has been flagged in team news as missing the rest of the series, though that has not been confirmed through a formal statement, so it should be treated as provisional. Sooryavanshi looks likely to keep his spot after a promising debut, with the top order otherwise picking itself around Abhishek, Ishan Kishan and Iyer.
Samson’s inclusion is the one genuine selection question left before Tuesday. Whatever India decide, the contest at Trent Bridge comes down to England vs India 3rd T20I 2026 player duels that have barely started: Archer against a batter searching for form, and Rashid against a batter he has never really tested.
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