Adelaide: India’s dream of winning a third World Cup in white-ball cricket was shattered at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
England gave the men in blue the hammering of a lifetime, racing to a 10-wicket victory with 4 overs to spare in a thoroughly one-sided semifinal. On Sunday, England will confront Pakistan in the grand finale at Melbourne.
It was India’s fourth semifinal defeat in a World Cup in the last seven years. They came a cropper against Australia in the 2015 ODI WC, lost to West Indies in the 2016 T20 WC and bowed to New Zealand in 2019 ODI World Cup.
Asked to bat first after Jos Buttler won the toss, the Indian batsmen struggled to accelerate in power play and middle overs. Skipper Rohit Sharma managed 27 off 28 balls and Virat Kohli made 50 off 40 deliveries.
But it was Hardik Pandya’s powerful hitting in the last 3 overs that took India to what looked to be a competitive total of 168/6. Hardik, who scored 10 runs off his first 15 balls, finished with 63 off 33 balls, smacking 4 fours and 5 sixes.
The English openers were in no mood for a fight from India. From the first ball of the chase, Buttler and Alex Hales lorded over the Indian bowlers.
No pacer or spinner was spared as Buttler and Hales launched a brutal onslaught that helped them achieve the target in just 16 overs.
Buttler remained not out on 80 off 49 balls, hitting 9 fours and 3 sixes, while Hales was unbeaten on 86 off 47 deliveries that included 4 fours and 7 sixes.
The unbeaten 170-run opening partnership broke a clutch of records.
Brief scores: India 168/6 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 63, Virat Kohli 50; Chris Jordan 3/43, Adil Rashid 1/20). England 170/0 in 16 overs (Jos Buttler 80 not out, Alex Hales 86 not out).
Result: England won by 10 wickets.
Final: Pakistan vs England – Nov 13, Melbourne.
