India thrashed England by 68 runs to qualify for the finals of the T20 World Cup 2024. They were head and shoulders above the Three Lions in the second semi-final in Guyana and will now play South Africa in the final of the competition on June 29 in Barbados.
After winning the toss, England skipper Jos Buttler decided to bowl first while Rohit Sharma revealed that he was happy to bat first. The skipper once again led from the front as he smashed 57 runs off 39 deliveries. He gave the perfect platform for the middle order batters to capitalize and Suryakumar Yadav did exactly that. The Mumbai cricketer hit 47 runs off 36 deliveries while Hardik Pandya made 23 runs off 13 balls as India posted 171 runs on the board in the first innings.
It looked enough at the halfway stage but the bowlers made it ridiculously easy in the end. Axar Patel had a phenomenal night with the ball, picking up three wickets with the ball in the powerplay. Kuldeep Yadav dominated the middle overs as England struggled heavily. They were eventually bundled for 103 runs, helping India pick up a massive victory.
1. Captain, Leader, Legend - Rohit Sharma
Whenever a captain leads from the front, the team is bound to have success. Rohit Sharma changed his brand of cricket in the last one year and that has helped Indian cricket massively. He played an important role in helping India qualify for the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023 and it is no different in the ongoing T20 World Cup. He has been world-class and the innings against England in Guyana.
2. Tula manla re bhau
Suryakumar Yadav played a very key role in India’s win. After Rohit’s dismissal, someone had to take control of the ship, otherwise, it could have sunk. The conditions weren’t easy but Suryakumar stuck to his basics and helped India put up a healthy total on board, which was crucial.
3. Axar Patel in a different league
Axar Patel has been India’s unsung hero in the T20 World Cup 2024. There’s a lot of hubbub around Rohit and Bumrah but the willy spinner kept doing his job in every match. In the semis, Axar once again made a difference and helped India qualify for the finals.
Losing skipper Jos Buttler said:
India certainly outplayed us. We let them get 20-25 runs too many. It was a challenging surface, they played well on. They fully deserved this win. Very different conditions (than 2022), credit to India. They played a very good game of cricket. With the rain around, didn't expect the conditions to change too much. Don't think it really did. They outbowled us. They had an above-par score. Don;t think toss was necessarily the difference between the teams. They've got some fantastic spinners. In hindsight, should have bowled Moeen in that innings with the way spin was bowling. We are really proud of everyone's effort. We stuck together, came up short when it mattered the most.
Winning skipper Rohit Sharma said:
Very satisfying to win this game. We worked really hard as a unit. To win this game like that was a great effort from everyone. We adapted to the conditions really well. It was a challenge and we adapted. We played the conditions really well. If the players play according to the conditions, things falls in place. Very pleasing with how we came through. At one stage, (we were thinking) 140-150, as the game went on, after that partnership, we said another 25 runs. I can set the target in my mind, but I don't want to let anyone know about it, to the batters. They are all instinctive players. I thought 170 was a very good score on this surface. They (Axar and Kuldeep) are gun spinners. It's difficult to play some shots, the pressure is on them as well but they were calm and knew what to bowl. He (Kohli) is a quality player. Any player can go through that. We understand his class and his importance. Form is never a problem. The intent is there. Absolutely (backing Kohli for the final). We have been very calm as a team. We understand the occasion (final). Staying composed helps you make good decisions. That'll help us making the game through. You got to play good cricket. That's what we want to do in the final.
POTM Axar Patel said:
I have bowled in the powerplay in the past, so I had to bowl in the powerplay, that was the plan. The wicket was stopping and keeping low, so tried to bowl in the right areas. The wicket was slow, so I tried to bowl slower in this match, it worked for me. Wouldn't have worked had I bowled quicker, would have been easier for their batters. Our batters told us that the wicket wasn't easy, so 160 was a good total according to us. That partnership (between Rohit and SKY) was magnificent, they scored the occasional boundaries and rotated the strike. Not thinking about Barbados at the moment, will celebrate this player of the match award first.
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