Top 3 spells in India-England matches at the Men's T20 World Cup ft. Harbhajan Singh
The Indian team is all set to cross swords against England in the semifinals of the 2024 T20 World Cup on Thursday, June 27 at Providence Stadium in Guyana. They will look to avenge their defeat against the Jos Buttler-led side, who beat them by 10 wickets in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal.
In total, there have been four encounters between both teams in T20 World Cup history, with a record of 2-2. After India secured an 18-run victory in 2007, the England side eked out a three-run win in the following edition. The 2012 edition saw India beat England by a huge margin of 90 runs.
On that note, let's take a look at the three finest bowling spells in India-England matches in T20 World Cup history.
#3 Irfan Pathan - 3/37, T20 World Cup 2007
Ahead of the the 2007 T20 World Cup clash between India and England, both teams were coming off a loss in their previous Super Eight games and needed a win to remain alive in the competition.
Batting first, India's opening combination of Virender Sehwag (68) and Gautam Gambhir (58) added a 136-run stand, before falling in quick succession. Then, Yuvraj Singh made history by slamming six sixes against Stuart Broad to help the Men in Blue post a daunting total of 218 on the board.
In response, Darren Maddy and Vikram Solanki started England's innings on a positive note. However, their 53-run stand was broken by Irfan Pathan, who had Maddy (29) caught to Gambhir near the long-on region in the sixth over.
Thereafter, Solanki built on his momentum to stitch a quality partnership with Kevin Pietersen. Nevertheless, Pathan came back in the 11th over to deliver a slower ball, which caught Solanki (43) off-guard, and he could only find Rohit Sharma at long-off.
Then, the middle-order did well for England, but could not catch up with the required rate. The penultimate ball of the innings saw Pathan bowl a fuller ball as Luke Wright failed to clear the long-off fence and Harbhajan Singh took a terrific catch. India won the game by 18 runs and Pathan finished with figures of 3/37 off four overs.
#2 Harbhajan Singh - 3/30, T20 World Cup 2009
India and England were clubbed in the same Super Eight group in the 2009 edition of the showpiece event. Both sides were again coming off a loss in their first game, and needed a win to stake a claim for the semifinal spot.
In only the second over of the innings, Indian pacer RP Singh dismissed Wright. However, Ravi Bopara (37) and Pietersen (46) played well to steer England at a comfortable rate. The 17th over saw Harbhajan bowl a flighted delivery, and Owais Shah got holed out at the deep mid-wicket boundary.
Bowling the final over, 'Turbanator' secured a caught-and-bowled dismissal of James Foster and breached the defense of Graeme Swann. He returned with figures of 3/30, as England posted 153 on the board.
In response, the MS Dhoni-led side tried well but fell short by just three runs, with Yusuf Pathan (33*) emerging as the top contributor. This loss also meant India loosing all hopes of clinching a top four spot.
#1 Harbhajan Singh - 4/12, T20 World Cup 2012
India and England were pitted against each other in the group stage of 2012 edition. Both teams were coming into this fixture with a dominating victory over Afghanistan.
Batting first, the Indian outfit posted a formidable total of 170 at Colombo, with Rohit Sharma playing a quickfire innings of 55* off 33 balls.
Then, England were rocked by a double strike by Irfan, as they lost Alex Hales and Wright. Then Harbhajan Singh delivered an arm-ball, which went past Eoin Morgan's defense, in the sixth over. Soon, Piyush Chawla got rid of Craig Kieswetter and Jonny Bairstow to pile the misery on England.
In the 10th over, Harbhajan dismissed Tim Bresnan to put England under even more pressure. The wily spinner clean-bowled Jos Buttler and made Graeme Swann a victim with his doosra in the following over. As a result, he finished with figures of 4/12 off four overs and helped India bundle out England for 80 and win by 90 runs.