By Suramya Kaushik
Mumbai — Defending champions India staved off Jacob Bethell’s brilliant hundred to beat England by seven runs in a thrilling Twenty20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday.
India will face New Zealand in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad as they aim to secure an unprecedented second straight T20 World Cup.
Put in to bat, India racked up an imposing 253/7 as Sanju Samson struck a commanding 89, supported by fluent contributions from Shivam Dube and Ishan Kishan.
England’s chase was kept alive almost single-handedly by Bethell, whose counter-attacking 105 off 48 balls threatened to overhaul the target, but despite a late push from Will Jacks they finished on 246.
“It’s not easy. You find form at the crucial games for your country. So I thought it’s a big game, so I need to make the most of how I’m batting,” Samson said.
“We knew no score is stoppable, wanted as much as possible. England came close, played really well.”
India made a brisk start despite the early loss of Abhishek Sharma for nine.
Samson, fresh from his unbeaten 97 against West Indies, took on England’s attack with confidence.
He was handed a reprieve on 15 when captain Harry Brook dropped a simple catch in the third over, and he made England pay, adding 97 with Kishan as India raced to 100 in 8.3 overs. England turned to off-spinner Will Jacks who removed the wicketkeeper-batter 11 runs short of his century.
Kishan fell to Adil Rashid, prompting India to promote Shivam Dube to No 4 and he smashed 43, including four sixes, before a mix-up with Hardik Pandya ended his innings.
Pandya lit up the closing overs with Tilak Varma as England fast bowler Jofra Archer endured the costliest T20 international spell of his career, conceding 61 runs.
Bethell was absolutely unbelievable, he’ll earn some serious money. To see him taking it from ball one, showed the world what he can do.
England lost Phil Salt and Brook inside the powerplay, the latter to a superb catch from Axar Patel at deep cover-point. Jos Buttler (25) produced his best innings of the tournament before Varun Chakravarthy dismissed him with a googly.
Bethell, however, kept England alive with his century, striking eight fours and seven sixes.
“Bethell was absolutely unbelievable, he’ll earn some serious money. To see him taking it from ball one, showed the world what he can do,” Brook said.
He received support from Jacks before Patel dismissed the latter with a superb catch, relaying the ball to Dube as he crossed the rope.
India held their nerve in the closing overs, with Jasprit Bumrah controlling the run flow through pinpoint yorkers.
Archer hit late sixes but England finished on 246, falling just short of what could have been a record chase at the venue. Reuters
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