Finance
India vs England T20 World Cup 2026: India has advanced to the T20 World Cup final, where New Zealand awaits, after surviving Jacob Bethell’s onslaught! India won by seven runs, barely making it through. Jacob Bethell’s innings of 105(48) put India under serious threat, as he blasted both spin and pace. He had some assistance from Tom Banton and Will Jacks, but not enough on the night. India controlled the opening half of the innings, with Hardik Pandya dismissing Phil Salt, Axar Patel making a fantastic catch to dismiss Harry Brook, and Varun Chakravarthy putting an end to Jos Buttler’s tournament struggles.
England recovered control in the middle of the innings, with Bethell and Jacks hitting the boundary with ease. It took another bit of deep magic from Axar Patel to remove Jacks, restoring India’s edge. It was next up to Bethell to make a difference, but the vital overs arrived as expected from Bumrah.
With 45 needed from 18 and England in a good position, Bumrah smashed his yorkers while conceding only six runs. Hardik Pandya bowled the next over and capitalized on the pressure by dismissing Sam Curran. Bethell did reach his century in this over, but a pair of dotted yorkers to end the over meant 30 were needed off the last six balls.
Bethell was run out on the first delivery of the over, and after delivering a yorker, Shivam Dube ensured he planted his foot behind the line and bowled four legal deliveries. Archer hit three of them for six, but it was too late.
India completed with a record-breaking total of 253/7, the highest ever in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, with Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma closing the innings in style after Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube lay the groundwork with imperial performances. Samson top-scored with 89, the joint-highest individual score for India in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, while Dube hit 43 off 25 balls to keep India’s tempo throughout the innings.
Dube survived an LBW DRS appeal but got run out soon after, against the run of play, after a lapse in communication with Hardik Pandya. The carnage continued, though. India went quiet for a couple of overs, maybe before Shivam Dube used his long levers to get the sixes going. England picked up a third wicket, with Suryakumar Yadav getting out stumped, but it doesn’t matter. The scoring rate is still above 12 runs an over.
Samson missed his century, holing out in the deep for 89, but boy, has he done the job for his team. He could have aimed for a hundred, but India are at a stage where they are targeting to hit every ball for a SIX. Earlier, the wicket of Ishan Kishan didn’t bring any relief at all for England, with Shivam Dube joining the fun with his own flurry of sixes. England struck, at last, dismissing the dangerous Kishan, who was looking like a million bucks. And once again, it was that man, Adil Rashid, who gave them the breakthrough.
Meanwhile, Samson was driving along. The Indian opener scores a half-century off just 26 balls, taking the wind out of England’s sails. India controlled the Powerplay, reaching 67 despite losing the wicket of Abhishek Sharma. Samson has gone mad, hitting a flurry of boundaries and sixes to put England under pressure. Ishan Kishan also provides him with pleasant companionship. When Harry Brook split an easy catch, Samson was dropped, resulting in a missed opportunity. He made sure to repay England by hitting Jofra Archer for two fours and a six in the over. This, of course, came after Brook won the toss and chose to field.
India vs England T20 World Cup Semifinal Playing XIs:
IND playing XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
ENG playing XI: Jos Buttler (wk), Phil Salt, Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
Source: HT
