T20 World Cup 2022: Hales, Buttler pound India as England cruise into final with 10-wicket triumph
Alex Hales (86* off 47) and Jos Buttler (80* off 49) featured in a record 170-run unbroken stand, the highest for any wicket in the T20 World Cup, as England thumped a hapless India by 10 wickets in the second semi-final in Adelaide on Thursday, November 10.
Set to chase 169, England romped home in 16 overs and will now take on Pakistan in a repeat of the 1992 ODI World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday.
In what seemed like an action replay of the Pakistan-New Zealand semi-final on Wednesday, November 9, England’s openers pulverized the Indian bowling attack, making a mockery of what seemed like a challenging target. England dashed their way to 63/0 at the end of the powerplay.
The Bhuvneshwar Kumar-Buttler battle was billed as one of the key match-ups in the second semi-final. The England captain won the contest hands down. He crunched the Indian pacer for three boundaries in the first over. Hales joined the fun in Bhuvneshwar’s next over as he tonked the bowler for a maximum over wide long-off.
Mohammed Shami’s first over saw Hales launch a six over long-off and a four through deep third man. The England opener then swept Axar Patel for a maximum, while Buttler thumped the left-arm spinner for a four through midwicket as the batting side ended their powerplay in dominating fashion. Hales went on to reach a 28-ball fifty as England cruised to 98/0 at the halfway stage.
Hales brought up the 100-run stand in style, whacking a short ball from Pandya for a six over the midwicket boundary. Buttler, who was content playing second fiddle to Hales for most of his innings, reached a 36-ball fifty by slamming Pandya for a four and six off consecutive deliveries in the 13th over, which went for 17.
England only needed 29 runs from the last seven overs. Fourteen came off the next over from Shami, which included a dropped catch of Buttler. The emphatic victory was achieved in a manner that summed up the game, Buttler cleared his front leg and launched Shami for a six over long-on.
Pandya blitz lifts India to 168/6 against England
Pandya walloped four fours and five sixes in his 33-ball 63 to lift Team India to a competitive total of 168/6. Virat Kohli also chipped in with 50 off 40 balls, but the rest of the batters could not make any significant contribution.
Sent in to bat after losing the toss, India lost KL Rahul for five. The opener poked at a rising delivery outside off stump from Chris Woakes and only managed an edge to the keeper. Kohli lofted Woakes for an imperious six over cover at the start of the fourth over. Rohit Sharma also took on Sam Curran and picked up consecutive fours off the next over. However, England did well to restrict India to 38/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Feeling the urge to break free, Rohit perished to Chris Jordan for 27 off 28 balls. The Indian captain attempted to heave the England pacer on the leg side, but his timing went awry and he was caught in the deep. India were held to 62/2 at the halfway stage of their innings as Adil Rashid kept things extremely tight.
Suryakumar Yadav looked ominous again, smacking Ben Stokes for four and six off consecutive deliveries. However, Rashid's guile proved to be his undoing for 14 off 10 balls. The experienced England spinner, knowing Suryakumar would go after him, bowled a slow leg break outside off. Suryakumar tried to launch the ball over extra cover, but only ended up slicing the delivery towards sweeper cover.
Kohli and Pandya then added 61 for the fourth wicket to lift India. The latter started slowly before teeing off at the death. He began the 17th over by slapping a short ball from Sam Curran over the cover point boundary for a maximum. The first two balls of the next over from Jordan were also dispatched over the ropes - the first one was pulled over midwicket and the second launched over backward square leg with great use of the wrists.
At the other end, Kohli reached a half-century off 39 balls, his fourth fifty of the T20 World Cup 2022. However, he was dismissed for exactly 50. Looking to guide a wide yorker from Jordan, he only managed to slice the stroke and gave a catch to short third man.
Pandya, however, ensured India did not suffer due to Kohli’s exit, pounding Curran for a six and two fours in the penultimate over. After Rishabh Pant (six) sacrificed his wicket in the last over, Pandya hammered Jordan for a six and a four before being dismissed hit-wicket off the last ball of the innings.
India would have been confident of competing with the total, but the English openers were way too good in the chase.