T20 World Cup: India brush aside England to set up dream final between two unbeaten teams

New Delhi: India stormed into the T20 World Cup final with a commanding 68-run victory over defending champions England in Georgetown, Guyana, on Thursday, two years after being at the receiving end against the same team at the same stage of the tournament.

Rohit Sharma’s boys face South Africa in the final on Saturday in Barbados after the Proteas thumped Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final earlier in the day.

It will be a clash of the unbeaten teams as both India and South Africa have won all their seven games in the lead up to the title round.

India were the inaugural champions of T20 World Cup in 2007 but are yet to win a major ICC tournament since 2013 while South Africa have never won any big trophy and have a chance at shedding the ‘chokers’ tag.

Rohit again played a leading role in shaping India’s victory with his third fifty of the tournament that propelled them to 171/7 after which England were shot out for 103 in 16.4 overs at the Providence Stadium.

Fresh from a match-winning 41-ball 92, he took his opening partner Virat Kohli’s continued failure in stride to produce a 39-ball 57 in which he hit six boundaries and two sixes.

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨! 🙌 🙌#TeamIndia absolutely dominant in the Semi-Final to beat England! 👏 👏

It’s India vs South Africa in the summit clash!

All The Best Team India! 👍 👍#T20WorldCup | #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/yNhB1TgTHq

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 27, 2024

Indian bowlers then did the rest with a penetrative display in which they knocked off England’s formidable batting unit with regular strikes.

Axar Patel (3/23) began the dismantling with the wicket of skipper Jos Buttler (23) after which Jasprit Bumrah (2/12) removed Philip Salt (5).

Patel and Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) then tied English batters in knots with their guile and variation as England’s chase never got going with Harry Brook (25) being their top scorer.

Rohit show again

Earlier, skipper Rohit Sharma’s third half century of the tournament helped India post a challenging 171/7.

India lost the toss and were sent into bat by England captain Jos Buttler after rain delayed the toss and the start of the match.

India then lost Virat Kohli (nine) and Rishabh Pant (four) cheaply to reach 40-2 in the powerplay.

Kohli’s poor form in the tournament continued as he lifted Recce Topley for a six but departed two balls later.

He came down the track but missed Topley’s inswinger that cut back and kissed the top of leg stump. The former India skipper has now made only 75 runs in seven innings in the tournament at an average of 10.71.

Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (47) then produced a third-wicket partnership of 73 runs, batting on either side of one hour rain delay.

The India skipper was not out on 37 and Yadav unbeaten on 13 with India on 65-2 after eight overs when rain stopped the action from where they took their team to 113-3 in the 14th over.

The well-set batters departed in quick succession after which Chris Jordan (3.37) removed Hardik Pandya (23) and Shivam Dube (0) in consecutive deliveries.

But India benefitted from useful runs from Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja (17 not out) late in their innings before Axar Patel’s six of Chris Jordan (3/37) in the last over took then past 170.

Brief Scores:

India 171 for 7 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 57, Suryakumar Yadav 47, Hardik Pandya 23, Chris Jordan 3/37, Adil Rashid 1/25, Jofra Archer 1/33, Reece Topley 1/25, Sam Curran 1/25) England 103 in 16.4 overs (Axar Patel 3/23, Kuldeep Yadav 3/19, Jasprit Bumrah 2/12).

T20 World Cup 2024 Latest Coverage

 India defeated defending champions England by 68 runs in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup to set up a final with South Africa.  Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today