India buried bitter memories of the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final defeat for good as they gave England a mighty trashing in the last-four clash of the 2024 T20 World Cup on Thursday to march in the final where South Africa await them.
India were a class apart on a pitch that aided spinners as they first posted an above par total of 171/7 in 20 overs before bowling out England for 103 in 16.4 overs to register a big 68-run win.
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Player-of-the-match Axar Patel (3/23) began the England collapse when he landed the first blow with the scalp of dangerman Jos Buttler (23) who was caught after attempting a reverse sweep in the fourth over.
England, the defending champions, seemed to have gotten off to a good start with the openers adding 26 runs in three overs before Axar’s entry into the attack. Jasprit Bumrah than outfoxed Phil Salt with an offcutter to have him bowled on 5 and Axar struck again when he cleaned up Jonny Bairstow for a duck to leave England wobbling at 35/3 in 5.1 overs.
England needed a partnership and a big one at that but Indian spinners put them in shackles and didn’t let go. Axar soon added his third wicket in Moeen Ali (8) before Kuldeep Yadav bamboozled Sam Curran to trap him LBW on 2.
Harry Brook showed some fight with three boundaries but it was short-lived as Kuldeep had bowled on 25 to leave England in tatters at 68/6. A couple of run outs and a breezy Jofra Archer cameo (21 off 15) later, India booked final date with fellow unbeaten team South Africa whom they face on Saturday.
This was Rohit Sharma put on a show with a measured half-century on a slow and low pitch of Guyana. His opening partner Virat Kohli (9) again registered a low score as he tried upping the ante in the Powerplay.
Rishabh Pant fell cheaply too before Rohit (57 off 39) and Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 36) added 73 runs for the third wicket to set the base for what proved to be a match-winning total.
The start of the semi-final was delayed one hour and 15 minutes due to rain and then there was another lengthy break when India were 65 for two in 8 overs.
The pitch wasn’t going to be a belter as was evident from the first over itself with the ball staying low. Kohli tried to dominate before launching one over mid-wicket for a biggie but two balls later he was bowled by Reece Topley.
In comparison, Rohit adapted to the conditions much better and was cautious in his approach. Not that he crawled into a shell as was evident with release of pressure through consecutive fours off Topley.
Rohit completed his fifty with a six but fell to Adil Rashid soon, undone by a googly. Suryakumar was solid and missed out on his own fifty by three runs.
Hardik Pandya scored 23 off 13 including two flat sixes off Chris Jordan while Ravindra Jadeja played a good hand too – 17* off 9 – after being promoted up the order. Axar struck a six off Jordan in the final over as India finished with a challenging total.
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