India beat defending champions England by 68 runs in the second semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Thursday booking their spot in the finals of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Batting first after the rain match at Providence Stadium, India posted a defendable total of 171 runs with Rohit Sharma knocking his third half-century of the tournament. Suryakumar Yadav was the other scorer amassing 47 runs during the match.
In the chase, England was bundled for 103 runs in the 17th over with Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav picking three-wicket hauls each while Bumrah picked two wickets.
Meanwhile, South Africa pummeled Afghanistan in a Thursday morning clash to reach finals for the first time in T20 World Cups. The finals will be mouth mouth-watering encounter between South Africa and India who are the only unbeaten teams in the 2024 World Cup campaign.
2️⃣ Unbeaten teams 1️⃣ Trophy at stake
South Africa and India will face off in Barbados for the ultimate prize 🏆#T20WorldCup #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/L2AzXio1AP
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) June 27, 2024
Coming to the match, the toss has been delayed due to a wet outfield. However, England won the toss and opted to bowl. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened the innings while Reece Topley opened the bowling attack.
Reece Topley picked the wicket of Virat Kohli in the fourth ball of the second over. He was dismissed for 9 runs on a good length delivery where he leg-sided and was then looking it over mid-wicket. But the ball flicks the leg stumps dismissing Kohli in the third over. After his dismissal, Rishabh Pant came to bat aiming for a good partnership score in the match.
Sam Curran dismissed Rishabh Pant for four runs in the sixth over. He was sent out on a floated delivery and Pant was shaping for a flick over mid-wicket, but he faced the ball too early which doesn’t elevate, and went straight into the hands of Jonny Bairstow at mid-wicket. By the end of the powerplay, India scored 46 runs for two wickets.
Suryakumar came to bat while Rohit Sharma continued to hit boundaries. By the end of 8 overs, India scored 65 for two wickets with Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav at the crease for 37* and 13* runs respectively.
With rain interrupting the match, Rohit and Suryakumar resumed the match where Indian captain Rohit Sharma smashed 57 runs on 39 deliveries including 6 fours and 2 sixes.
He was dismissed in the fourteen over by Adil Rashid while Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for 47 runs in the 16th over. In the 18th over, Chris Jordan picked the wickets of Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube. Hardik Pandya scored 23 runs while Dube was sent out on a golden duck.
By the end of the 18th over, India scored 147 runs losing six wickets. With an impressive run from Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the death overs, India scored 171 runs by the end of 20 overs.
With a target of 172 runs, Jos Buttler and Philip Salt opened the innings while Arshdeep Singh opened the bowling attack. Jos Buttler gave an impressive start for the side smashing 23 runs in 15 deliveries. In the first ball of the fourth over from Axar Patel, Jos Buttler was sent out where he tried a reverse sweep straightaway. The ball elevated in the air and Pant took catch for ease.
Bumrah came to bowl in the fifth over picking the wicket of Philip Salt for 5 runs. He bowled out as Philip was not expecting the slower ball and swiped early. The ball cut towards the leg stump and hit the top of it.
With the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow for a duck from the first ball of the 6th over, England lost three wickets for 35 runs in the powerplay. He strikes again picking the wicket of Moeen Ali for 8 runs. With a good length delivery on leg stump, Moeen hung back looking to strike on the leg side, and dribbled towards Pant.
Sam Curran was sent out on a lbw in the first ball of the 9th over of the ninth over. Kuldeep Yadav delivered a lengthy delivery on off-stump and the ball struck his pad. With his dismissal, England lost five wickets for 49 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav picked the wickets of Harry Brook and Chris Jordan for 25 and 1 run respectively while Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid were sent out on run out. With the dismissal of Adil Rashid for 2 runs, England lost 9 wickets for 88 runs. With the dismissal of Jofra Archer for 21 runs on lbw by Jasprit Bumrah, England lost all 10 wickets for 103 runs and lost the match by 68 runs.
