Reece Topley "back to square one" under new England regime

NICK HOWSON AT TRENT BRIDGE: The Surrey left-armer takes 3 for 22 to claim the player of the match prize and secure victory in the third T20 international against India

Reece Topley has described trying to impress England's new white-ball regime as going "back to square one" after helping to secure victory over India in the third T20 international at Trent Bridge.

Topley took career-best figures of 3 for 22 to scoop the player of the match prize and inspire a 17-run victory that denied the tourists a series whitewash.

Few have been through more to regain their international place than the Surrey left-armer, who after a four-year injury ordeal including four stress fractures and a bout of surgery, returned to the fold in 2020.

After playing in four of the five West Indies T20s, he has remained a staple of the limited-overs side under new head coach Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler, the captain since Eoin Morgan's retirement.

Having tread a long road to this point, Topley admits impressing the new leadership group feels like starting again.

"Since this year, I think I've taken all the opportunities that have come my way," Topley, who has nine wickets in eight games for England in 2022, said.

^{Topley's new-ball burst put England on top (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

"But new coach, new captain, there's new people to try and impress. In my head, I think it’s back to square one to try to impress the right people."

Topley claimed two wickets with the new ball, dismissing openers Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, before returning to break the 119-run stand between centurion Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer.

Needing 25 from nine, England's victory wasn't secured until Moeen Ali dismissed Yadav as India fell short in pursuit of the 216 target.

It was Buttler's first success of his tenure as permanent skipper and Topley was impressed by his poise under pressure as the tourists, who took the series 2-1, threatened a whitewash.

"I kept looking at Jos and I couldn't really tell the situation of the game from when we were on top to chasing balls some overs," he added.

"It's a credit to him and one of his great qualities that he’ll bring as a captain. In a high-scoring game, it’s easy to get carried away with emotions.

"Almost a skill in itself, as much as bowling slower balls and whatever, it’s about keeping your head and not getting wrapped up in everything."

Jos Buttler was a figure of calm after his struggles with the bat continued (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

After 50 and 49-run defeats in the first two T20Is, this was something closer to the norm for England who carry momentum into the ODI series starting at the Kia Oval on Tuesday (July 12).

"It was good fun," said Buttler "It was a fantastic game of cricket and much more like what we're used to seeing from our side so I was really pleased, especially with the response with the bat.

"I thought we were a little bit above par (at 214 for 7). I don't think the wicket had the pace that they sometimes have here, but it was some innings from Suryakumar Yadav. It was one of the best hundreds that I've seen and he put us under a lot of pressure.

"The guys bowled well at the end and backed their yorkers and they thought they'd get a bit of tail and that can only help. I was pleased to see Richard Gleeson (1 for 31) back it up with another performance and Chris Jordan (2 for 37) has been excellent all series.

"We are blessed with options and even when we play the extra bowler we have a lot of all-rounders and bat quite deep. That is one of those things where we can be horses for courses and pick a team accordingly."

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