India displayed their plethora of talent in a display of absolute dominance to reach the T20 World Cup final with a 68-run victory over England in the semi-final in Guyana on Thursday. Leading the attack once again was their inspirational captain Rohit Sharma, who laid the foundation with an aggressive 57 off 39 balls, and the captain was well supported by Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 36), as India posted 171 off seven after being asked batted first in the rainy match.
In response, England were bowled out for 103 in 16.4 overs as India prepared for a title clash with debutants South Africa in Barbados on Saturday. This is India’s third entry into the final of the tournament.
Hardik Pandya scored a 13-ball 23, hitting two sixes at a crucial time to support India.
In a slow and assured pitch with low bounce, left-arm Axar Patel (23/3) helped India increase control of the match with his brilliant bowling, while his slow bowling counterpart Kuldeep Yadav (19/3) did the damage in the intermediaries.
The Indian team thus avenged the crushing 10-wicket defeat it suffered against the defending champions in the 2022 semi-final of the mega event at the Adelaide Oval.
In the process, Rohit became the first Indian captain to lead the country in three ICC global finals in the space of 12 months – 2023 World Test Championship, 2023 ODI World Cup and now the T20 World Cup.
Considering India’s overall bowling attack and the nature of the surface, Rohit’s men were expected to defend the total and they did so quite comfortably.
His decision to use Axar in the powerplay proved to be a masterstroke as the left-arm spinner struck twice in quick succession from which England were unable to recover.
Wrist spinner Kuldeep also played his role to perfection on a pitch that pleased the spinners throughout the competition.
Jos Buttler (23 off 15), Harry Brook (25 off 19) and Jofra Archer (21 off 15) were the only English batsmen to reach double figures, summing up India’s dominance in the game. Both Buttler and Brook fell while attempting the reverse sweep against Axar and Kuldeep respectively.
“We adapted very well to the conditions. It was a challenge and we adapted. We played very well in the conditions,” Rohit said after the match.
India, who are yet to lose a game in the tournament, will hope that their star batsman Virat Kohli bounces back in the all-important title race. Kohli (9 off 9) died once again on Thursday, trying to force the pace.
The much-anticipated game was affected by intermittent rain, with kick-off delayed by an hour and 15 minutes. Another long stand came when India made 65 for two in eight overs.
Up to 250 additional minutes were allocated to the game, but there was no reserve day.
Soon after Kohli and Rohit started batting after England put the opposition in, it became clear that the surface was slower and the low bounce made the task more complicated for the batsmen.
While Kohli fell early, Rohit adapted to the conditions much better and decided to play the ball late and behind the stumps. An example of this was Archer’s guidance in the second over when the ball went through Phil Salt’s hands to reach the boundary. Setting the benchmark for other batsmen, Rohit then managed four successive hits in Topley’s third over before applying pressure on England’s leading spinner Adil Rashid after India reached 46 for two in the powerplay.
Rishabh Pant (4) was the second batsman to be dismissed for having incorrectly timed a strike to be caught at mid-wicket off Sam Curran.
Then came the gripping clash between Rohit and Rashid, where the Indian captain employed reverse and conventional sweep to collect two fours off the leg-spinner’s opening.
Suryakumar was batting 13 alongside Rohit when rain returned at the Providence Stadium, forcing the game to be paused for over an hour.
The weather spoiled two balls after Suryakumar came at the crease to catch Jordan over fine leg at maximum.
England capitalized on the rotation of Rashid and Liam Livingstone on both sides after the forced break but were unable to suppress Rohit and Suryakumar.
A full toss from Rashid was duly dispatched over short fine leg for four, the first of many boundaries India accumulated at mid-on.
Curran’s 13th over yielded 19 runs for India, with Suryakumar hitting a couple of sixes and Rohit hitting a maximum toss that also brought up his second consecutive fifty.
The entertaining run of 73 ended when Rohit was beaten by a googly from Rashid while attempting hard work.
After Curran’s 13th over, the next four were quiet for India before Hardik Pandya (23 off 13) hit two flat sixes on either side of the pitch to push the innings forward.
Ravindra Jadeja (17 not out off 9), sent ahead of Shivam Dube, hit two crucial fours from Archer in the penultimate over while the latter’s stay lasted just one ball.
Axar’s six overs against Jordan in the final took India past 170. The team scored 53 runs in the last five overs.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
This story originally appeared on ndtv.com read the full story
