India vs England Semifinal: India avenge 2022 hammering to waltz into T20 World Cup final

India's captain Rohit Sharma, left, and Virat Kohli celebrate scoring runs during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup second semifinal cricket match between England and India at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, Thursday, June 27, 2024. AP/PTI

India versus England in a T20 World Cup semi-final used to bring back memories of a 10-wicket hammering suffered by Rohit Sharma’s side in Adelaide in 2022. India had made 168/6 in that match and England got there in 16 overs. So when the Indian innings ended at 171/7 in this ongoing edition of the event in Georgetown, Guyana, fingers were crossed.

The difference was, this match was played on a completely different pitch, where the ball gripped, stopped and turned. India avenged the 2022 humiliation with as big a win as one can expect in a contest featuring two heavyweights. England were blown away by 68 runs, and India waltzed into the final, to be played against South Africa in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29.

It was a victory marked by the success of the spin trio, which accounted for six wickets for 58 runs off 11 overs. It was expected of them, after the way Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone tormented the Indian batters in the first half of the match, which saw a delay caused by rain. But this landslide win was not only about the havoc caused by Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

On this kind of a surface where the ball often kept low and came late onto the bat, India actually sealed the match by posting that big a total. For that, the lion’s share of credit goes to Rohit Sharma, who once again made a huge difference following his match-winning performance against Australia. The captain was not as perfect on this day, but his 39-ball 57 was the cornerstone of the intimidating Indian total.

Suryakumar Yadav’s 36-ball 47 was equally invaluable under the circumstances and so were the cameos played by Hardik Pandya, Jadeja and Axar, on a day when Virat Kohli failed for the umpteenth time in this competition. It’s difficult to quantify the importance of these contributions, but taken together, they made the difference between an average and imposing total.

Rohit’s captaincy was spot-on and he wasted no time in introducing spin. Once Axar got rid of the dangerous Jos Buttler in the fourth over, Indian never looked back. It kept getting tougher for England and at 62/5 after 10 overs, the defending T20 World Cup champions were down for the count. The knockout punch arrived in due course.

About to play a second World Cup final after the setback in the 50-over format last year, India will go into the summit clash with a lot of confidence. They are there not riding individual brilliance but collective hard work, which is the hallmark of a good team. Potentially, it promises to be a mouth-watering contest against a side also eager to prove a point.

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