India edged past England by seven runs in a high-scoring semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday to book a place in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final, where they will face New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Asked to bat first, India piled up 253/7, riding on Sanju Samson’s blistering 89 off 42 balls. The right-hander struck eight fours and seven sixes to anchor the innings after Abhishek Sharma fell early for nine. Samson shared a 97-run stand with Ishan Kishan, who made a rapid 39 off 18 balls, before adding another 43 with Shivam Dube, who scored 43 off 25 deliveries. Late bursts from Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) and Tilak Varma (21 off 7) pushed India beyond the 250 mark. Will Jacks and Adil Rashid picked up two wickets each for England.
In reply, England lost three wickets in the powerplay but stayed in the contest thanks to Jacob Bethell’s counterattacking century. Bethell stitched key partnerships with Jos Buttler and Tom Banton before adding 77 runs with Will Jacks and another 50 with Sam Curran to keep England in the chase.
However, Hardik Pandya dismissed Curran in the penultimate over to tilt the contest. England needed 30 off the final over, and Shivam Dube struck immediately as Bethell was dismissed off the first ball following a sharp fielding effort. England eventually finished on 246/7, falling short by seven runs as India advanced to their second successive T20 World Cup final.
-IANS
