By Vatsal Verma :
Defending champions India defeated England by seven runs to reach their second successive final at the T20 World Cup.
Sanju Samson led the charge to take India to 253/7, the home team survived a spirited challenge from England to register a seven-run win in a high-scoring semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. The two teams scored 499 runs between them, the most in a men’s T20 World Cup match. In Sunday’s title clash, India are chasing a few firsts as they take on New Zealand in Ahmedabad. They are aiming to become the first host team to win the T20 World Cup, the first team to defend the title and the first to win three T20 world titles.
Unable to find a place in the star-studded playing XI earlier in the tournament, Samson has come good for India in clutch games. After a match-winning 97 not out against West Indies in the final Super Eight clash, the right-hand batter continued from where he had left off. Samson scored a eye-popping 89 off 42 balls, with the help of eight fours and seven sixes, to lead India to a towering total. Put into bat, Samson got going from the first over, hitting back-to-back boundaries to Jofra Archer to give India the early momentum. Given a life at 15, when England captain Harry Brook put down a simple catch at mid-on, off Archer’s bowling, Samson made England pay.
With Wankhede rolling out another batting paradise, Samson, and India, whipped the crowd to a fever pitch with some relentless shot making. Having ended powerplay on 67/1, the defending champions continued to press on. Samson got stuck into a flighted delivery by Liam Dawson, carving it inside out over extra cover for six to bring up his half-century in just 26 balls. Samson built a 97-run stand (in 45 balls) with Ishan Kishan and a 43-run partnership (in 22 balls) with Shivam Dube.
Once he had set the tone for the innings, it was difficult for England to pull back against India’s power-packed batting line up. There were contributions all through, as Kishan (39 from 18), Dube (43 from 25), Hardik Pandya (27 from 12) and Tilak Varma (21 from 7) all came out swinging.
India struck a 19 sixes and 18 fours through the innings, earning 186 runs in boundaries. Will Jacks was once again England’s go-to man for wickets. After claiming the early wicket of left-handed Abhishek Sharma, he returned to send back dangerman Samson. England’s bowling spearhead Archer suffered at the Indian batter’s hands on the day, as he conceded 61 runs in his four overs, with the lone wicket of Varma to show. The highest score in a run chase at a T20 World Cup was England’s 230 against South Africa in 2016.
Facing a record chase in the semi-final, England gave it a good go and fell agonisingly short, finishing at 246/7.
England stumbled early on as Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Harry Brook were back in the dugout inside the first six overs. Hardik Pandya gave India the breakthrough as he dismissed Salt on the first ball of his spell, while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah followed up with the wicket of Brook courtesy of a brilliant backward running catch by Axar Patel.
Out of form Buttler seemed in good touch on Thursday, scoring 25 from 17 balls. But Varun Chakaravarthy castled him with a googly to reduce England to 68/3 in powerplay.
Though England lost early wickets, they were able to keep pace with India. While the hosts brought up the team 100 in 8.3 overs, England reached the milestone in 8.1, the second-fastest team hundred in T20 World Cup knockouts.
Jacob Bethell kept his team in the hunt deep into the innings with a blazing century. He took the attack to India, launching his innings with three successive sixes off mystery spinner Chakaravarthy and kept up the tempo.
It was a brilliant piece of fielding that ended the 77-run stand (39 balls) between Bethell and Will Jacks. After three successive wide balls, Arshdeep Singh managed to get the right line, just outside off, which the in-form Jacks sliced over cover. Axar Patel ran from deep cover, got hands to the ball just before he crossed the boundary, and tossed it to Shivam Dube who completed the relay catch.
Despite losing partners at regular intervals, Bethell took the game into the final over. However, he was run out at 105, off just 48 balls, with the help of eight fours and seven sixes.
In the end it came down to small margins, and Bumrah’s economical bowling at the death and India’s superior fielding, especially by Patel, took them over the finish line.
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