T20 World Cup: India thrash England to enter final

Captain Rohit Sharma and spinners powered India into the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday (June 27).

In the rain-hit second semi-final at Providence Stadium, Guyana, Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) and Axar Patel (3/23) were outstanding with the ball as India won by a massive 68-run margin against the defending champions England.

Jasprit Bumrah too was impressive, taking two wickets.

Chasing 172, the Jos Buttler-led side were bundled out for 103 in 16.4 overs. Harry Brook was the top scorer for England with 25 runs.

With this win, India continued to remain unbeaten in the tournament. On Saturday (June 29), India will face South Africa, who too are undefeated, in the final at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. The match starts at 8 PM IST (10:30 AM local).

Rohit hits a half-century

Earlier, skipper Rohit showed how to bat on a pitch with low bounce as India did well to reach 171 for seven.

Virat Kohli perished early once again, trying to force the pace but Rohit (57 off 39 balls) found an able ally in Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 36) as the two powered India to a challenging total.

The keenly awaited fixture was impacted by intermittent rain with the start of play being delayed by one hour and 15 minutes. Another halt came when India were 65 for two in eight overs.

Soon after Kohli (9) and Rohit came out to bat after England put the opposition in, it became clear the surface was on the slower side and low bounce made the task trickier for the batters.

Both Rohit and Kohli tried to whack the pace duo of Reece Topley and Jofra Archer off length early in the innings but could not connect.

Showing eagerness to take on the bowlers, Kohli regularly charged down against both Topley and Archer but with no success.

He finally connected one from Topley, a fuller ball, for a six over mid-wicket before the left-arm pacer shortened his length, leading to the India superstar's dismissal two balls later.

Kohli's lean run continues

Kohli went for the same stroke on the on-side but ended up getting bowled, extending his lean run in the tournament.

Rohit, on the other hand, adapted to the conditions much better and decided to play the ball late and behind the stumps. One example of that was the guide over backward point off Archer in the second over when the ball went through Phil Salt's hands to reach the boundary.

Setting the benchmark for other batters, Rohit then collected back-to-back fours in Topley's third over before applying pressure on England's premier spinner Adil Rashid after India reached 46 for two in the powerplay.

Rishabh Pant (4) was the second batter to be dismissed as he mistimed a flick to be caught at midwicket off Sam Curran.

Then came the engrossing match-up between Rohit and Rashid where the Indian captain employed the reverse and conventional sweep to collect two fours from the leg-spinner's opening over.

Suryakumar Yadav was batting on 13 alongside Rohit when rain returned at the Providence Stadium, forcing the game to be paused for more than an hour.

The weather played spoilsport two balls after Suryakumar got inside the line to pick Jordan over fine leg for a maximum.

England used the leg-spin of Rashid and Liam Livingstone from both ends after the forced break but they could not stifle Rohit and Suryakumar.

A full toss from Rashid was duly dispatched over short fine leg for four, the first of many boundaries that India accumulated in the middle overs.

Rohit-Suryakumar association

The 13th over from Curran yielded 19 runs for India with Suryakumar smashing a couple of sixes and Rohit playing a pick-up shot for a maximum that also brought up his second successive fifty.

The entertaining 73-run ended when Rohit was beaten by a googly from Rashid while attempting a slog.

Following Curran's bumper 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, got two crucial fours off Archer in the penultimate over while the latter's stay lasted only one ball.

Axar's six off Jordan in the final over took India past 170. The team scored 53 runs in the last five overs.

(With agency inputs)