Shreyas Iyer ducks for cover at the non-striker’s end as the ball, rather a goblet of fire emanating from Shivam Dubey’s willow, seems to be destined to ram into the advertising hoardings. Instead, quick movement at long-off keeps the damage down to one in Bristol.
Sanju Samson, fresh off an impressive T20 World Cup and IPL season back home, is unable to command his muscle memory as an uppish drive zooms to backward point. A reflex dive to the right sends the enforcer packing in Durham.
Another promising third wicket stand by India draws to a close in Manchester thanks to the union of sprinting speed and flawless catching technique. The common thread in these awe-inspiring moments? Tom Banton, an absolute livewire in the field during the five-match rubber wherein each venue had its own unique geometry.
The random obtuse angles created on the boundary, in turn, perplexed both the teams in equal measure. While slow movers like Dubey had a hard time patrolling the fence, even the supremos such as Phil Salt erred in judgement. Navigating the twists and turns with the alacrity of an everyday commuter on Mumbai local trains, Banton chipped in with several key interventions that helped England put up “the most complete performance” against the world champions in Jos Buttler’s words.
“He’s made that look VERY easy!” 🙌
Shreyas Iyer departs after a smart catch from Tom Banton ❌ pic.twitter.com/VXf0LnS6Dm
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 4, 2026
While the aforementioned are acts of direct consequence, his presence on the park often created the claustrophobia that enabled an entry into the wickets column. Samson and Dubey apiece were denied a certain four before he caught their jailbreak shots. In the latter episode, Liam Dawson had almost accepted his fate upon noticing the strength with which his drag-down had been pulled by the burly southpaw. Banton ran full throttle to his left, intercepting the ball in a peculiar sliding fashion that Marnus Labuschagne has honed over the years.
Eyes locked on the prize, his agility made the collection of Iyer’s miscue at Old Trafford look way easier than it actually was. The ball was swirling away from him – the northern and western regions of England are the windiest – but he never lost track of it despite the rapid acceleration. Three overs later, his swiftness at extra cover spelt Dubey’s doom, leaving an already struggling Ishan Kishan bereft of partners to share the load with. He admitted India left crucial runs out there in the middle as the hosts embarked on what would prove to be a red-hot winning spree.
The fact that Banton predominantly dons the gloves for Somerset casts an even brighter light on his contributions. “Yeah, he’s been brilliant,” Buttler nodded in approval. “He’s taken some great catches, he’s made some fantastic saves on the boundary and all of that feeds into the performance, in the way the boys have fielded. I think throughout the series, we’ve been exceptional in all three facets of the game, which doesn’t happen often. That too, against a top team like India, we should be really proud of ourselves.”
Iyer also acknowledged that his men were “outplayed by England in each department” in the presser following his sixth straight loss as captain on the tour of United Kingdom. An hour ago, he was witnessing an encore of the blunders Shashank Singh committed under his leadership in IPL 2026. Dubey’s attempt to get underneath a top edge from Harry Brook was so shambolic that he would gladly skip the replay. He paid the price in the penultimate over, leaking 22 as England’s past and present combined to wreak havoc.
Simpler chances fell in the lap of Kishan and Suryansh Shedge, but the butterfingers meant the target eluded India’s reach despite an innings where they finally came to terms with the English conditions. It was not only the case of dealing with an outfit now deservingly on top of the ICC T20I rankings, concluding a remarkable reign of 1,608 days, but also paying attention to detail in an idiosyncratic foreign land. “It’s one of the things that we spoke about, trying to get off the rope and stop the twos,” Brook emphasized following their first win. “And there were some decent stats there. I think we had 12 twos and they had 5. So we were pretty happy with that.”
MD-1 🤝 Fielding fun pic.twitter.com/hPE6MYtqVO
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 30, 2026
England went on to check that box in Nottingham too, stealing 15 doubles as compared to India’s three. Banton was a regular feature in the fielding hotspots, playing a huge role in that preservational effort even as the last few fixtures allowed a modicum of rest in between. To plant the cherry on the cake, he added 67 with Jacob Bethell to guide England home in a tricky chase.
Having spent his entire career at Somerset after rising through their academy ranks, Banton recently signed a white-ball only contract with the club. Success in limited overs cricket at the Indian Premier League, Big Bash, The Hundred and Pakistan Super League, holds him in good stead from a selection standpoint, yet his sublime groundwork can buy some breathing space during a lean patch with the bat. Jonty Rhodes’ name springs to mind in that regard; the value he brought to the table as a fielder rendering his exclusion a tough call for the Proteas.
“It certainly gave me the edge when there were two or three batters that the selectors were thinking about for one spot,’’ Jonty said in an interview to ESPNCricinfo. “I was initially chosen in the team for the 1992 World Cup just for my fielding. I was averaging 27 or 28 for my provincial team, and that’s not very attractive at the provincial level.”
“There was Daryl Cullinan and Mike Rindel who were scoring heavily for their provinces and after the first trip in 1991 to India there were a few senior guys in the team and they wanted someone young who fielded well. That’s why I got selected. I never looked at myself as an allrounder. My job was to score runs. Saving a few was an extra that I gave to the team.”
