To earn a spot in the T20 World Cup 2024 finals, India defeated England by a score of 68 runs. They defeated the Three Lions handily in the second semi-final held in Guyana, and they will now take on South Africa in the competition final on June 29 in Barbados.
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bowl first, but Rohit Sharma declared that he was content to bat first. After smashing 57 runs off of 39 deliveries, the captain once again took the initiative. He created the ideal environment for the middle order hitters to flourish, and Suryakumar Yadav achieved just that. In the first innings, India scored 171 runs with the help of the Mumbai batsman who scored 47 off 36 deliveries and Hardik Pandya who scored 23 off 13 balls.
Midway through, it appeared sufficient, but the bowlers ultimately made it look absurdly simple. With the ball, Axar Patel had an amazing evening, taking three wickets during the powerplay. England was badly struggling as Kuldeep Yadav controlled the middle overs. They were ultimately bundled for 103 runs, which contributed to India’s decisive win.
1. Rohit Sharma, Captain, Legend, and Leader
A captain who sets an example for the squad always ensures success. Indian cricket has greatly benefited by Rohit Sharma’s alteration in his style of play over the past year. He was crucial to India’s progress to the 2023 ODI World Cup finals, and he continues to be so in the current T20 World Cup. In the Guyana innings against England, he was outstanding.
2. Tula re manla bhau.
India’s victory was greatly aided by Suryakumar Yadav. The ship might have sunk if Rohit hadn’t been fired, so someone had to take over. Even though things weren’t easy, Suryakumar stayed true to his roots and enabled India to score a respectable amount, which was vital.
3. Axar Patel in an alternative division
During the T20 World Cup 2024, Axar Patel has been India’s unsung hero. Although Rohit and Bumrah are the subject of a lot of controversy, the determined spinner continued to perform well in each game. Once more, Axar was instrumental in helping India get to the finals in the semis.
Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: Before the India-England semifinal, Rohit Sharma and Jos Buttler’s identical numbers surface
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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