ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Semi-Final 2, India vs England: Alex Hales-Jos Buttler’s 170-run stand, Hardik Pandya’s 63 and Adil Rashid’s 1-20 are top performances as England beat India by 10 wickets in semi-final. England to face Pakistan in final.
Brief Scores:England 170/0 (Hales 86*, Buttler 80*) beat India 168/6 (Hardik 63, Kohli 50, Jordan 3/43) by 10 wickets
Player of the Match: Alex Hales (86* in 47 balls)
Well-prepared England who qualified for the semi-final on the back of their nervous last game against Sri Lanka, locked horns with super-confident India who wanted to cross the semi-final hurdle, during the second semi-final of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Thursday.
India have an upper hand against England in the shortest format of the game, with a margin of 12-10; while in T20 World Cups, they have won two times in three faceoffs.
India’s shaky top-order exposed on a big evening against powerful England
India had a struggling top-order in this T20 World Cup with the third worst run rate of just 6.10 in the powerplay overs. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were not in good touch at all as India’s powerplay score of 38/1 felt cheap vis a vis England’s 68/0. The interesting choice between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant is bound to spice up things in the future too.
But in defending a 168-run total, it is nothing short of humiliation if a team like India who have the luxury of Indian Premier League (IPL) lost by 10 wickets. Since the first few overs, the energy level went down and the body language was telling the whole story as India’s wait for another ICC tournament continues.
Splendid England knock India out to reach another T20 World Cup final
England captain Jos Buttler on winning the toss decided to take the field. While India retained their same playing eleven, England added Chris Jordan and Philip Salt in the side in place of injured Dawid Malan and Mark Wood, both of whom were ruled out from this encounter.
India lost opener KL Rahul early in the second over, before strolling to just 38/1 at the end of the powerplay. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli weren’t getting the timing right as India could reach only 62/2 at the halfway mark. Few big shots took them to 100/3 after 15 overs. But Hardik Pandya’s splendid 63-run knock in 33 balls fired them to 168/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing a par score on this track, England just blew away India in the powerplay itself scoring 63 without any damage before keeping the pace to reach 98/0 at the halfway mark. The attacking shots kept on coming as India on the field looked totally clueless. Alex Hales and Jos Buttler curved their way to a match-winning record opening 170-run partnership to carry England to a 10-wicket victory.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the second semi-final between India and England in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Hardik Pandya’s blistering 63-run knock propels India
India didn’t have a great start in the semi-final against England with bat in hand as they managed just 74/2 in 11 overs with Virat Kohli struggling to get his timing right. When Suryakumar Yadav was sent back, Hardik Pandya walked into the middle. Since India’s first game against Pakistan, Pandya was not in good form and he didn’t start well, being on 13 in 15 balls with the help of just one boundary that he smashed straight down the ground against Liam Livingstone.
But he broke jail when he pumped the cut shot against Sam Curran’s short ball in front of square to inject some noise in the crowd. In the next over, Hardik took on Chris Jordan; he nailed the pull towards deep mid-wicket to clear the short square leg, before whipping the next ball into the deep backward square stand for couple of sixes.
The penultimate over saw Hardik destroying Sam Curran; he opened the bat face to squeeze the ball square on the off-side before hammering the next ball for a maximum over deep mid-wicket; Pandya has now scored 33 runs in just 14 balls against Curran with three boundaries and two sixes. With a lightning boundary, Hardik celebrated his third T20I fifty in just 29 balls.
Hardik then swung his willow managing to evade a leaping long-on fielder for a six before drilling the next ball in front of square for a boundary. Hardik who was dismissed on the last ball of the innings on 63 in 33 balls with the help of four boundaries and five sixes, now has 1117 T20I runs in 79 games as India reached 168/6 in 20 overs.
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Alex Hales-Jos Buttler 170* run opening partnership blew away India
Chasing a par score of 169, England perhaps hoped for a good platform to have an easy rrack to reach the target, but what they received from their wild opening pair of Alex Hales and Jos Buttler was nothing short of extraordinary.
Buttler began with a beautiful boundary slapping a drive past the cover region, before smacking another four in the same region. Hales too joined the party with a six hammering Bhuvneshwar Kumar over covers, before Buttler milked a boundary over cover. Hales then powered Mohammed Shami over mid-off, before pulling Hales over backward square leg for a maximum to reach 68 in the powerplay.
Hales kept the big shots going as he swept Ravichandran Ashwin backward of square on the on-side for a six to notch up his 12th T20I fifty in just 28 balls. Buttler from the other end was just giving Hales the strike mostly but as they were getting close to the target, Buttler too freed his arms as he banged Hardik Pandya over fine leg for a boundary, before pummeling a pull over deep square leg for a fine six to reach his 19th T20I fifty in just 37 balls.
Finally, Buttler finished the game with a huge six that went flying over the head of Virat Kohli at long-on, as England made their way to the final of this T20 World Cup. The opening stand of 170* between Buttler and Hales is England’s highest opening partnership in T20Is, along with being their highest partnership in T20 World Cups.
Hales who remained on 86* in 47 balls with the help of four boundaries and seven maximums, now has 2073 T20I runs in 74 games; while Buttler who remained unbeaten on 80 with nine boundaries and three sixes, now has 2576 T20I runs in 102 games.
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Adil Rashid slowed India down in middle overs with 1/20
Even though Adil Rashid wasn’t in the wickets column regularly in this tournament, he didn’t give too many runs in the games to put pressure on the opponents and in a game where England chased down 169 without any damage, Rashid did a really fine job with ball in hand.
When he was called back in the powerplay, he spent just seven runs even after going for a first ball boundary before giving away just five runs in his second over. Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav could score only five more runs in Rashid’s third over, before the spinner picked up the wicket of Suryakumar on 14 who used his feet to hit the ball over extra-cover but the ball went sky-high as the sweeper cover fielder grabbed an easy catch. It is the second time Surya got out against Rashid in T20Is in 17 balls besides striking him at 229.4.
Rashid who returned figures of 1/20 in his four overs, now has 91 T20I wickets in 91 games.
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What’s Next
With England reaching the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 to join Pakistan, the fans will see a repeat of the 1992 One Day International Cricket World Cup. However, the final is under some threat with 90-95 per cent chances of showers being predicted on November 13 and the following day which is slotted as the reserve day if needed.
A minimum of a 10-over contest will be required to select the winners of the final; otherwise, both teams will be required to share the trophy.
Pakistan will face England on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne.
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