Guyana (Web Desk): India defeated England by 68 runs in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday and secure their place in the final against South Africa at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
Put into bat in the rain-hit match, India scored 171-7 in the allocated 20 overs despite losing key wickets of Virat Kohli (9) and Rishabh Pant (4) during the powerplay. Skipper Rohit Sharma was the top scorer with 57 runs followed by Suryakumar Yadav who made 47.
Hardik Pandya scored 23, Ravindra Jadeja 17 and Axar Patel 10 runs. Chris Jordan bagged three wickets while Reece Topley, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Adil Rashid had one each.
Chasing a challenging 172-run for victory, England kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were all out at 103 in 16.4 overs. Harry Brook was the highest scorer who made 25 runs. Skipper Jos Buttler made 23, Jofra Archer 21 and Liam Livingstone 11 runs.
No other batter could enter the double figures. Player of the match Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav bagged three wickets each and Jasprit Bumrah had two while Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid were run out.
India will now face South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup on Saturday, June 29 in Barbados.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
England: Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley