England posted 201-7 after being inserted on what looked a belting pitch, only for India to subside to 76 all out after just 11.4 overs of a shambolic display with the bat.
Josh Tongue (4-28) and Jofra Archer (3-29) impressed in blasting out the Indian top order before Adil Rashid (2-14) chipped in to confirm India's largest-ever losing margin by runs.
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15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit two big sixes before being dismissed as he gloved a Jofra Archer bouncer behind.
India's 15-year-old wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (13 off 5 balls), playing in just his second international match, struck two huge sixes before he became the second wicket to fall, gloving an Archer bouncer behind.
Earlier, Phil Salt (70 off 44) top-scored for England after a scratchy start to his innings, while Sam Curran (44no off 24) and Jos Buttler (36 off 21) also made valuable contributions.
Score summary - England vs India, third T20I, Trent Bridge
England 201-7 after 20 overs (inserted at toss): Phil Salt (70 off 44 balls), Sam Curran (41no off 24), Jos Buttler (36 off 21); Prince Yadav (2-30), Harshit Rana (2-40)
India 76 all out after 11.4 overs: Josh Tongue (4-28), Jofra Archer (3-29), Adil Rashid (2-14); Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (13 off 5 balls), Ishan Kishan (13 off 9)
England had somewhat limped out of the blocks to start the match, with Salt batting out an opening maiden and just seven runs on the board through the first two overs of the powerplay.
Salt, in particular, struggled for rhythm early on, scoring only 17 from his first 19 deliveries but Buttler bailed him out as he found his form down the other end, smashing 34 of the 36 runs added from the next three overs.
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Prince Yadav bowled a fantastic yorker to dismiss England's Jos Buttler as the opener scored 36 runs off 21 balls.
He departed to start the sixth, bowled off his toes by a beauty of a yorker first ball from Prince Yadav (2-30), who impressed when called into the Indian side for his second T20I cap, also accounting for Harry Brook (16 off 12).
Salt finally got motoring with a six over deep midwicket off Varun Chakravarthy to start the 10th over, and though Jacob Bethell (13 off 9) and Tom Banton would perish to consecutive Harshit Rana (2-40) deliveries in the 12th, England's innings would not be derailed.
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Harshit Rana took two wickets in two balls to dismiss both Jacob Bethell and Tom Banton for a golden duck.
Curran proved a handy foil for Salt as he notched a 36-ball fifty, while Will Jacks (14 off 7) struck a couple of big sixes off Axar Patel (1-49) in the same over Salt finally fell, before he and Archer were run out in the last as England squeaked past 200.
In stark contrast to the England innings, India signalled their intent early as Sooryavanshi hit the final ball of Archer's first over for six, before he and Abhishek Sharma each cleared the ropes within the first three balls of Tongue's second.
But that was about as good as things would get for India, with their giddy top order guilty of going too hard too early and as soon as the fifth over they'd subsided to 52-5.
Abhishek (10 off 7), Ishan Kishan (13 off 9) and Shreyas Iyer (5) all holed out in the deep, while Sooryavanshi gloved an Archer bouncer behind, with Axar (10 off 4) also nicking off to the quick.
Buttler was fortunate to claim a stumping of Tilak Varma (3) off Jacks (1-5), as he began to lose his grip of the ball but just held on long enough to disturb the bails.
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Jos Buttler and Sam Curran both look at each other in disbelief after confusion leads to both them missing a simple catch to dismiss Arshdeep Singh.
He and Curran were also at the centre of a rather ridiculous missed catch in which they both called for an Arshdeep Singh skyer before leaving it to one another as it ultimately went unclaimed.
Arshdeep (4) was gone in the next over at least, one of Rashid's two wickets as he and Tongue combined to clean up the lower order and clinch the most comprehensive of England victories.
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England continue being ruthless in the field as Tom Banton takes an outrageous catch to dismiss Harshit Rana.
The hosts now have an unassailable 2-0 series lead with two to play, as the two teams next head to Bristol for the fourth T20I on Thursday.
Brook hails England's 'perfect' communication
England captain Harry Brook, speaking on Sky Sports Cricket:
"The communication and plans going into the second half were perfect. We adapted well with the bat on a tricky surface, and to carry that into the bowling was awesome.
"Salty played a mega innings, Jos' little cameo in the powerplay got us off to a good start. We realised early it was a tough surface to hit from top of the stumps. To get us to 200 on a tricky surface was a phenomenal effort.
"There was a lot of conversations between me, Baz [McCullum] and the coaches. We had a plan and stuck to it well.
"We didn't need to talk much before the chase, the bowlers knew exactly what we needed to hit the top of the stumps with the occasional bouncer.
"As simple as it sounds, it worked beautifully tonight."
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Harry Brook was full of praise after England's impressive win at Trent Bridge, with India's captain Shreyas Iyer calling the performance 'atrocious' in a record T20 defeat for the country.
Shreyas slams 'atrocious' India performance
India captain Shreyas Iyer, speaking on Sky Sports Cricket:
"It was atrocious. I can't use a better word. Losing by such a big margin isn't acceptable.
"We need to accept this loss and go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong.
"First of all, it wasn't a 200 wicket. Losing four in the powerplay didn't create momentum and we lost our way.
"You can plan a lot but once you come into the ground you have to adapt and figure out what lengths are important to bowl. Hard lengths helped the bowlers on this wicket, but we didn't execute many.
"When you're chasing, you have to set patterns for how to chase. We fell short, our execution was awful.
"It's a great opportunity [in the series] to come back strong, not to dwell on what happened in the past.
"We've played awful cricket but there's lots to learn as well.
"Players have to figure out ways to create an impact. Every individual has to see how they can win matches and take that responsibility."
'Questions to answer for India'
Sky Sports Cricket's Dinesh Karthik:
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Dinesh Karthik believes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will learn when to pick his moments, after making a bright start at Trent Bridge before throwing his wicket away.
"It should hurt. It's not just these two games, things didn't go well in Ireland prior to this.
"Plenty of questions for this young, new captain this team. This is not how you're supposed to go down.
"Shreyas Iyer will know he has walked into mega territory. Being the captain of a World Cup-winning team brings a huge amount of pressure. Five games have gone by - one washed out - and the other four have not gone well.
"It gives him a great opportunity to stand up as a leader and earn respect. Over the next two games, he needs to let his bat do the talking and score runs, but also drive this team forward and instil a huge amount of belief in both his ability and the direction of the side.
"There is a lot for this India team to ponder. At the moment, there are more questions than answers."
England's vs India - white-ball series' fixtures/results
- First T20 (Durham) - Match abandoned - No result
- Second T20 (Manchester) - England won by four wickets
- Third T20 (Nottingham) - England won by 126 runs
- Fourth T20 (Thursday July 9) - Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (5.30pm)
- Fifth T20 (Saturday July 11) - Utilita Bowl, Southampton (2.30pm)
- First ODI (Tuesday July 14) - Edgbaston, Birmingham (11am)
- Second ODI (Thursday July 16) - Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (1pm)
- Third ODI (Sunday July 19) - Lord's, London (11am)
Watch the fourth T20 international between England and India on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 5pm (first ball 5.30pm). Not got Sky? Stream cricket and more with NOW. %!s()
