India defeated England by a commanding 68 runs on Thursday, June 28, to advance to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final in Guyana. After a strong fifty-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Vijay Kumar, India amassed a formidable 171 runs. With three wickets apiece from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, they bowled England down to 103.
Along with completing their retaliation for losing to the Three Lions in the 2022 World Cup semi-final, the Men in Blue also put an end to their ten-year quest for a T20 World Cup final.
At Providence Stadium, rain postponed and disrupted the play in Guyana as England won the vital toss and chose to bowl first. India reached 171/7 in 20 overs after early setbacks thanks to top scorer Rohit Sharma’s 57 runs off 39 balls and in-form Suryakumar Yadav’s 47 runs.
After England quickly put on 26 runs for the first wicket, Axar and Kuldeep Patel took advantage of the playing conditions to dismiss the reigning champions at 103 in 16.4 overs. India advanced to the finals as favorites after recording the second-largest victory in the T20 World Cup knockouts by a run-count.
With another single-digit score, Virat Kohli’s bad streak continued as Reece Topley dismissed the faltering Indian star to give England a commanding lead in a powerplay. Although Rishabh Pant did not make an impact either, India was on course for a large total because to the match-winning stand made by Rohit and Suryakumar.
In rapid succession, India lost both settled Rohit and Suryakumar, but Hardik’s 23-run cameo proved vital. As the paying conditions became difficult to bat on in the later stages, Chris Jordan took three late wickets in the dying overs to prevent India a massive total.
In the third over, Jos Buttler, who is in form, hit three straight fours off Arshdeep Singh to put early pressure on the powerplay. However, on the opening ball of the match, Axar got rid of England’s captain.
Harry Brook put up a fight, scoring 25 runs, but Kuldeep and Axar took vital wickets to keep the pressure on. After Jordan was removed from the game in the seventeenth over, Jasprit Bumrah ended his tenure with a career-best two-for-twelve. As India celebrated a massive victory en route to the final, Axar took up the Player of the Match award for his three wickets for 23.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
England Playing XI: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w/c), Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley.
