It was a scene witnessed on countless Test tours to the subcontinent but one played out in the semi-final of the men’s T20 World Cup in tropical Guyana. England were spun out in dramatic fashion for a crushing 68-run defeat that saw India book a date with South Africa in Saturday’s final at Kensington Oval. As India amassed 171 for seven either side of an 80 minute break for rain it became apparent that the slow, low surface at Providence Stadium would make any chase tough going.
The target was three runs more than the one vaporised by England in that one-sided semi-final in 2022 but Adelaide this was very much not. And so it proved. The defending champions have become the former champions and are now heading for the next transatlantic flight home rather than the short hop back to Barbados, bowled out for 103 in 16.
4 overs – the standard length of an innings in the Hundred – through a beguiling performance from India’s spinners. And all after Jos Buttler won his sixth toss in eight and opted to bowl. Rohit Sharma wanted to bat first anyway and it did not sound like bravado at the time.
Instead the Indian captain’s reading of conditions was simply superior. Striking 57 from 39 balls to help set up the total, Sharma then looked with delight as Axar Patel, three for 23, and Kuldeep Yadav, three for 19, feasted on scrambled English minds. Jasprit Bumrah, needless to say, had an input here, the world’s premier T20 fast bowler mugging Phil Salt for five with a slower .
