T20 World Cup : England eliminated - The final between India and New Zealand

The Indian team, which defeated England by 7 runs in the high-scoring T20 World Cup semi-final held in Mumbai on Thursday (March 5), took another step forward in their journey to defend their World Cup title. With this thrilling victory, India qualified for the World Cup final for the second consecutive time, where they are scheduled to face New Zealand.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Indian team set a massive target of 253 runs for their opponents at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Despite the early dismissal of opening batsman Abhishek Sharma, the Indian batsmen took control of the match by scoring 67 runs during the Powerplay. Sanju Samson, who was on 15 runs, capitalized on a dropped catch by Harry Brook and went on to score a quickfire 89 runs off 42 balls, becoming the backbone of the Indian innings.

Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube (43 runs) provided excellent support to Samson, putting immense pressure on the English bowlers. Although Adil Rashid gave England some hope by dismissing Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma launched a flurry of quick shots in the final few overs. In particular, Tilak Varma's three sixes in Jofra Archer's over and Hardik Pandya's massive sixes in the final over helped India reach a formidable total of 253 runs for 7 wickets at the end of their allotted 20 overs.

England's chase of this massive target did not start well, as Indian bowlers managed to send back three key batsmen – Phil Salt, Harry Brook, and captain Jos Buttler – to the pavilion during the Powerplay. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Varun Chakravarthy claimed these wickets, giving India a strong start. However, young Jacob Bethell began to launch a fierce attack on the Indian bowlers while holding one end.

Bethell, building England's innings with Will Jacks (35 runs), scored a magnificent century (105 runs) off 48 balls, bringing the match back to an even keel. Although their rapid partnership raised England's hopes of victory in the latter half of the match, Jasprit Bumrah's exceptional bowling became the turning point. Specifically, in Bumrah's 16th and 18th overs, English batsmen could only manage a very low number of runs, and Shivam Dube, tasked with defending 30 runs in the final over, restricted England's innings to 246 runs for 7 wickets, securing a thrilling victory for India.