India Reach the Final Again After Winning a High-Scoring Thriller

England had to chase a huge target of 254 runs in the second semifinal. Jacob Bethell’s explosive century hinted at a thrilling fight in that pursuit, but in the end it was the defending champions India who had the last laugh. Suryakumar Yadav’s team booked their place in the T20 World Cup final with a 7-run victory.

However, Harry Brook could certainly put himself in the dock for allowing such a high-scoring target. After winning the toss and sending India to bat, England captain Harry Brook dropped Sanju Samson when he was on 15. Later, that same Samson helped India build a platform of 253 runs for 7 wickets. Samson played a destructive knock of 89 runs off 42 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes. Besides him, Shivam Dube scored 43 runs off 25 balls. Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma also played cameo innings. Hardik scored 27 runs off 12 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes, while Tilak made 21 runs off 7 balls with 3 sixes.

For England, Will Jacks and Adil Rashid took two wickets each.

Both teams played aggressive batting and piled up runs. In 40 overs, 499 runs were scored. A total of 34 sixes were hit. In such a match, even Jacob Bethell’s brilliant century ultimately proved not enough.

At the Wankhede Stadium, India’s total of 253 was the highest score in a knockout match of the tournament. Chasing that tough target, Bethell played a magnificent innings of 105 runs off 48 balls. It was his batting that kept England’s hopes of victory alive. The 22-year-old youngster took charge of the innings after Brook was dismissed and maintained the momentum with destructive batting. By hitting boundaries off the last two balls of the 17th over, he brought the equation down to 45 runs needed from the last three overs.

In the 19th over, Sam Curran was caught out after scoring 18 runs. Hardik Pandya also bowled well under pressure at that stage. In the final over, Bethell and Jamie Overton needed 30 runs. They could not complete that equation. Instead, while trying to keep the strike, Bethell was run out on the very first ball of the last over. His innings included 8 fours and 7 sixes. Even though the match was almost over by then, Jofra Archer hit three sixes before England’s innings ended at 246 for 7.

Axar Patel also played a big role in India’s victory. He took two brilliant catches. First he contributed to Harry Brook’s dismissal and later completed a relay catch to dismiss Will Jacks as well. However, England will regret Brook’s crucial dropped catch.

For India, Hardik Pandya took two wickets. Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel took one wicket each.

With this victory, co-hosts India will face New Zealand in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.