India storm into final with 68-run win

Georgetown (Guyana): Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav claimed three wickets each as India knocked out defending champions England out of the T20 World Cup with a 68-run win in the second semifinal of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at the Providence Stadium here late on Thursday.

The bowlers performed outstandingly in defending India’s 172-run victory target with Axar Patel claiming three wickets by conceding 23 runs while Kuldeep Yadav proved more economical as he scalped three and gave away only 19 runs. Jasprit Bumrah claimed two wickets and conceded 12 run.

England made a disastrous run chase as their opener Phil Salt faced eight deliveries before being bowled out for 5 by Jasprit Bumrah. Thereafter wickets began to fall at regular intervals and the reining champions were bundled out for 103 with Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Jofra Archer and Liam Livingstone making double-digit scores of 23, 25, 21 and 11 runs respectively

Earlier, captain Rohit Sharma slammed his 32nd T20I fifty through a 39-ball 57, while Suryakumar Yadav slammed 47 off 36 balls as the duo helped India post 171/7

On a tacky pitch with slow pace and low bounce, Rohit adjusted well to mix caution with aggression for smashing six fours and two sixes in his vital knock, while sharing a 73-run partnership with Suryakumar, especially after Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant fell early.

Handy runs from Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel at the fag-end helped India post a competitive total after being asked to bat first. For England, Chris Jordan took 3-37, while the spin duo of Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid had combined figures of 1-49 in eight overs.

With England getting a hint of movement due to cloud cover, they managed to nail their lengths well while targeting stumps mostly. Rohit got two streaky boundaries, while Kohli was convincing in his flicked six off Reece Topley. But in a bid to heave Topley across the line, Kohli didn’t account for the length ball shaping back in and saw his bails being rattled.

Despite Rohit not getting the desired timing on his shots, he managed to pull Topley for four and then stayed leg-side to drive the pacer stylishly for another boundary. But England took out Pant, as he flicked straight to mid-wicket off Sam Curran. Suryakumar opened his account with a straight drive past Curran for four, as India ended Power-play at 46/2.

Rohit welcomed Rashid with a reverse-sweep and the conventional sweep fetching him two boundaries, followed by Suryakumar getting down on one knee to heave a slower ball from Jordan over long leg for six. Just before the ninth over began, rain began to pour heavily and forced everyone to get off the field for 75 minutes.

Brief scores: India 171/7 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 57, Suryakumar Yadav 47; Chris Jordan 3-37, Adil Rashid 1-25) beat England 103 all out in 16.4 overs (Jos Buttler 23, Harry Brook 25, Jofra Archer 21; Axar Patel 3-23, Kuldeep Yadav 3-19, Jasprit Bumrah 2-12) by 68 runs.