India showcased their abundant talent with a dominant performance, storming into the T20 World Cup final by defeating England with a 68-run victory in the semi-final on Thursday.
Leading the charge was skipper Rohit Sharma, who scored an aggressive 57 off 39 balls. He was well-supported by Suryakumar Yadav, who contributed 47 off 36, as India posted 171 for seven after being asked to bat first in the rain-affected match.
England, in response, were bowled out for 103 in 16.4 overs, setting up a title clash between India and first-time finalists South Africa in Barbados on Saturday. This marks India’s third appearance in the tournament’s final.
Hardik Pandya added a crucial 23 off 13 balls, including two sixes, bolstering India’s total. On a slow pitch with low bounce, Axar Patel (3/23) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) delivered impressive bowling performances, tightening India’s grip on the match.
Rohit set the tone with consecutive boundaries in Topley’s third over and applied pressure on England’s premier spinner Adil Rashid, with India reaching 46 for two in the powerplay. Rishabh Pant (4) was dismissed after mistiming a flick off Sam Curran.
An intriguing contest ensued between Rohit and Rashid, with Rohit employing reverse and conventional sweeps to collect boundaries. Suryakumar, batting on 13, joined Rohit before rain interrupted play for over an hour.
Despite the weather disruption, Rohit and Suryakumar continued to score against Rashid and Liam Livingstone. Suryakumar hit a couple of sixes in Curran’s 13th over, which yielded 19 runs. Rohit’s entertaining 73-run partnership with Suryakumar ended when he was bowled by Rashid.
Following Curran’s expensive over, Hardik Pandya hit two flat sixes, and Ravindra Jadeja (17 not out off 9) added crucial boundaries in the penultimate over. Axar Patel’s six off Jordan in the final over took India past 170, with the team scoring 53 runs in the last five overs.
