India brave past the nightmares of Adelaide as they drub England to storm into the 2024 T20 World Cup final

Two years of interminable agony finally had curtains drawn upon it as Team India toppled the world champions, England from the perch to storm into the grand finale of the 2024 T20 World Cup. A battle against rain that went back and forth before the sun finally took centerstage had traces of explosive cricket written all over it.

Winning the toss, Jos Buttler opted to bowl first. India had an early hiccup to brave as they lost Virat Kohli for just nine. His RCB teammate, Reece Topley managed to get the better of him after the former went charging down across the line.

Rishabh Pant couldn’t last long either as he fell for just four against a simmering Sam Curran. As India wobbled at 40/2, their captain Rohit Sharma looked in intimidating touch by then, rekindling the déjà vu of his powerplay against Australia.

He was joined by Suryakumar Yadav in the center and the duo started going after the bowlers. Despite a brief interruption from the Rain Gods, the resumption of the play saw the skies clear and the sun come out bright and radiant.

Sharma and SKY added 73 runs for the third wicket before Adil Rashid managed to sneak one through the defences of the former and the Indian captain departed for 57.

SKY fell in quick succession too as his valuable 47 saw India keeping themselves afloat despite losing wickets in patches. With the overs slipping by, Hardik Pandya chose to exert himself and whacked Chris Jordan for two powerful flat sixes that saw the Indian juggernaut being back in motion.

Despite another screeching halt when they lost Pandya and Shivam Dube (0) in quick succession, India eventually managed to steer clear of the sudden rut imposed by Jordan and come firing back on all cylinders. Jadeja stayed unbeaten for a phenomenal 17 off just nine while Axar Patel’s brief push of 10 allowed India to pile up 171/7, one more than what they managed against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup final.

Chasing 172, England did manage to inflict an early assault on the Indian bowlers, courtesy of Jos Buttler. Just when the fans were being gripped by the fear of another possible repeat of Adelaide, that is when Axar Patel provided the first ray of hope.

Buttler (23), trying to sweep Axar, ended up holing out straight into the hands of Rishabh Pant. India doubled up on the early advantage as Jasprit Bumrah crashed one through the gates of the dangerous Phil Salt (5). Axar inflicted further woes to the English batting order as he castled Jonny Bairstow for a bronze duck.

The wobbles continued for the Three Lions as Moeen Ali couldn’t sustain himself either, falling for just eight against Axar who was already spinning a tornado around the English batters.

Sam Curran was a goner in no time whatsoever as Kuldeep Yadav caught his pads plonked in front of the stumps. Despite Harry Brook’s breezy 25 providing a brief respite to the English batters, Kuldeep’s subtle tweak of the line saw his stumps in shambles. With Brook gone and the score reading 68/6, it was just a matter of moments before India called dibs on the final berth. Liam Livingstone (11) and Jofra Archer (21) did put up a fight but it was not enough.

The English batters were bundled out for 103. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel were the pick of the lot as the duo plundered six wickets between them while Jasprit Bumrah had another fine outing registering figures of 2/12. Axar won the Player of the Match for his exceptional bowling with the brief burst towards the end of the Indian innings.