499 runs and 32 sixes later, India beat England to enter T20 World Cup final

TimesofIndia.com in Mumbai: 499 runs, a last-over thriller, and thousands on their feet witnessing history unfolding in front of their bare eyes — Wankhede Stadium couldn't have asked for a more entertaining game of T20 cricket as India managed to hold their nerves to beat England by just seven runs in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday.

The hosts had long yearned for a perfect game in the tournament. While this win was far from it, it sets up a title clash with New Zealand at The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The bowlers had the cushion of runs, and even when they leaked plenty, their early intent to look for wickets, something they couldn't do against West Indies in Kolkata, was evident and effective.

Varun Chakravarthy conceded three sixes but responded by taking Jos Buttler's wicket. Axar Patel conceded back-to-back sixes from Tom Banton but had the last laugh, taking the right-hander's wicket off the third delivery.

Before the emphatic response by the two spinners, India broke England's back during the powerplay of the huge chase by picking three wickets: Phil Salt, Harry Brook and Jos Buttler.Hardik Pandya struck off the first delivery of his spell, and Jasprit Bumrah did the same.The two demonstrated experience: the former achieved good movement in his first over, while Bumrah stunned England captain Brook with a slower ball, and then Axar took a blinder to dismiss the skipper.

During one passage of play, Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks combined to put India under the pump, but even as England got close, it was wickets which would have kept India in control. And another one came just when they badly needed it. Arshdeep was reintroduced to break some momentum after spinners lacked control and after the left-armer bowled three wides on the trot, his last legal delivery was set to go for at least a boundary before Axar pulled off another stunning catch, with a neat assist from Shivam Dube, to get the Wankhede roaring again.

The pitch was a dream to bat on and while every bowler struggled to contain the batters, Varun's meek surrender raises significant concerns.Throughout his four-over spell, the mystery spinner lacked control and penetration, consistently erring with shorter lengths. The true bounce allowed batters to comfortably sit back on the back-foot and muscle deliveries into the stands, without course correction. He leaked 64 runs from four overs - his most expensive outing in the format and the second most in the tournament's history. With Bethell keeping England hanging by a thread, the required run rate boiled down to 61 from last four overs. With two left-handers in the middle, India made the bold call to bowl Arshdeep early. While he kept things quiet initially, he conceded a six and a boundary off the last two deliveries, resulting in 45 runs from the last three overs. Then came the over that could have well decided which way this match was headed as Surya introduced Bumrah to bowl the 18th.

And boy did he deliver!Six deliveries, all around the toes, resulted in only six runs, making the equation 39 off the last two overs. Hardik was on top of his mark to bowl the crucial over. Even after conceding a six off the first ball, he took the wicket of Sam Curran and ended the over with a dot, leaving Shivam Dube 30 runs to defend off the last six overs. Wankhede was on its feet, a mini-conference was underway between Dube, Hardik and Surya and tension was palpable.

Centurion Bethell was on strike and his first hit went straight to Pandya at long-off. Jamie Overton tried to steal a second but Pandya's rocket arm caught Bethell short, ending the little hopes England had in the monumental chase. Archer kept the scoreboard interesting with three sixes but England fell short by 7 runs, getting knocked out of the tournament on a night when the ball flew thick, fast and far.The 14th over of the Indian innings was the only one where England didn't concede a boundary. On an evening where many boundaries and sixes were hit, Will Jacks' third over was an anomaly. Boundaries and sixes flew thick and fast in the overs bowled around the off-spinner as India, riding on another

Sanju Samson

masterclass, demolished England by posting a mammoth total, batting them out of the game before they even came out to bat.The bounce was true and with nothing happening off the surface or in the air, India feasted with a clinical batting display. It was Samson again who put on a real show of attractive strokeplay to score back-to-back half-centuries. If the unbeaten 97 in the stiff chase against West Indies at the Eden Gardens was a picture of calm, the 89 at Wankhede had domination written all over it. He never looked like dhown-shifting, even when Abhishek Sharma threw his wicket to Jacks' off-spin, and the manner in which he took down the predictable Jofra Archer was pure class.England played the match-ups card well but the bowlers' execution was far from satisfactory; all of them had an economy rate in double digits, with Archer leaking 61 runs in his four overs. The 30-year-old kept digging in short to Samson, who came well prepared and stood deep in his crease to countre the extra bounce. The only occasion when the right-armer went a bit full, an opportunity arose, but Harry Brook missed the sitter, handing in-form Samson an early life.

Samson then added 74 runs from the next 35 deliveries he faced.India were cruising and Wankhede was roaring. The chants of 'Sanju Samson' grew louder with every big hit and Ishan Kishan ensured the momentum didn't dip from the other end as he smoked an 18-ball 39. When the dangerous southpaw was dismissed in the tenth over, India controlled the situation at 117/2. Since spin was expected to play a part, they demoted Surya and sent Shivam Dube to pile on more misery on the opposition.Dube didn't disappoint, even after Samson was dismissed 11 short of a well-deserved hundred. He aced his role to perfection by using his long levers to full effect and kept 250 within the reach. For Surya, it was another ordinary outing in a knockout/must-win fixture of a multilateral tournament but Hardik Pandya covered up for the Indian skipper's early departure as both he, and later Tilak Varma, played strong cameos to push the side over the 250-run mark.India's innings mirrored their training session two days before the match as the batters operated with significant intent. The Men in Blue hit 19 sixes and the sixathon made them become the only side in men's T20 history to have six totals in excess of 250 in the format. India have already hit 88 sixes in the tournament—the most in a single edition - and they are set to flirt with the century mark when they take the field in the title clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.Brief score:India: 253 for seven in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 89, Shivam Dube 43, Ishan Kishan 39; Will Jacks 2/40, Adil Rashid 2/41).England: 246 for 7 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 105; Jasprit Bumrah 1/33, Hardik Pandya 2/38).