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It is a joyous moment for the millions of cricket fans as the Indian team have qualified for back-to-back World Cup finals as they will now face South Africa in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to take place at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on 29 June, 2024. The Men in Blue will be feeling very much relieved after they avenged their T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final loss against England on Thursday. India managed to register a pretty comprehensive 68-run victory over defending champions England in the second semi-final of the ongoing T20I mega event hosted at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. In this article piece, we take a look at the key takeaway moments from the India vs England T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final match.
5 Key Takeaways from India vs England T20 World Cup 2024 Semi-Final
1. India lose Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant in the powerplay
After losing the toss and being asked to bat first on a tricky pitch at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, Team India did not had the best of starts as their star batsman Virat Kohli once again had an off day with the bat. After smashing England's left-arm pacer Reece Topley for a brilliant six, Kohli once again gave his wicket while playing another attacking shot. He managed to score just 9 runs, recording one more failure in this edition of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Inside the first six overs of the powerplay, India found themselves in a bit of trouble at 40 for 2 with England's Sam Curran getting the better of wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant cheaply to get the upper hand.
2. Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav counter-attack the England bowlers
Indian captain Rohit Sharma continued his sensational batting form as witnessed in the previous game against Australia where he smashed a blistering innings of 92 runs, blasting the opposition bowlers all around the park. After losing early wickets at the top in a high-pressure semi-final encounter against England, Rohit joined hands with Suryakumar Yadav to stitch an important partnership of 73 runs for the third wicket. The Indian skipper scored a fine knock of 57 runs off 39 deliveries that included 6 fours and 2 sixes to keep his team in-tact during the middle-overs. On the other side, Suryakumar also looked in a dangerous form during his impressive innings of 47 runs off 36 balls that consisted of 4 fours and 2 sixes.
3. India post 171 for 7 in their 20 overs
The England team made a slight comeback during the first innings when they dismissed both the set batters, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. However, the Indian team management promoted vice-captain Hardik Pandya up the order and he contributed with an exciting cameo knock of 23 runs off 13 balls that consisted of 2 sixes and 1 four. Both the left-handers Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel scored some crucial runs lower down the order to help India finish with a challenging total of 171 for 7 in their quota of 20 overs. It was an above-par total on a wicket that had variable bounce and some good amount of assistance for the spin bowlers.
4. Axar Patel removes the dangerous duo of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow cheaply
England captain Jos Buttler once again attacked India's new ball bowler Arshdeep Singh smashing him for 13 runs in the third over. However, left-arm spinner Axar Patel definitely had other plans as he first got the better of English skipper and then also got the dangerous Jonny Bairstow clean bowled for a 3-ball duck to leave the opposition in tatters at 35 for 3. On the other side, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah removed the in-form Phil Salt to help India stay ahead in the game.
5. Kuldeep Yadav's brilliant spell helps India qualify for back-to-back World Cup finals
The Indian bowlers continued to take advantage in the penultimate clash by picking wickets at regular intervals. Left-arm leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav proved to be a real threat for England's middle-order batters on a wicket that had great amount of turn. He ended up taking three vital wickets in his quota of four overs giving away a total of just 19 runs as the England cricket team were bowled out for a paltry total of 103 runs in 16.4 overs.