#T20WorldCup2022 : England Dash India’s Title Hopes With A Crushing 10 Wicket Win ; Alex Hales, Jos Buttler Storm Too Much To Handle

Picture : Twitter/englandcricket

After Pakistan had won the first semi- final against New Zealand by 7 wickets, the pressure was on India to reach the final against the power England side . English skipper had made his statement clear at the outset saying He will not allow a India vs Pakistan final at Melbourne on November 13. And Buttler lived by his words till the very end and fittingly sealed the match with a stunning six to knock out India.

Earlier Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to bowl first. His bowlers kept it tight and did not allow Indi to get away . K L Rahul flopped in a big match again falling for 5. Skipper Rohit Sharma struggled for 28 ball 27 . In- form Virat Kohli , once again anchored the Indian innings with his fourth fifty of the tournament with a 40 ball 50 . Another in- from batsman Suryakumar Yadav fell for 14. India struggled to pace their innings . Hardik Pandya finally came good with the bat smashing a lovely cameo of 33 ball 63 ( 4 fours , five sixes). It was Hardik at the nd with his finish that India ended up at 168/ 6 in their 20 overs.

For England the bowling figures read : Chris Jordan 3/ 43( 4 overs) , Chris Woakes 1/ 24 ( 3 overs) , Ben Stokes 0/ 18 ( 2 overs) , Sam Curran 0/ 42 ( 4 overs) , Adil Rashid 1/20 ( 4 overs) was outstanding given the  wicket. , Liam Livingstone 0/ 21 ( 3  overs). Skipper Jos Buttler rotated his bowlers astutely and the field placings were spot on.

Defending 168 and England needing 169, India   needed early wickets to stay in the hunt. Little did they realise  what they will soon encounter. English openers – Powerful  Alex Hales and Skipper Jos  Buttler were in attacking mood straight away . And Indian bowlers could only watch in despair as the ball was hit all around the ground. Fours and and sixes which deserted India was no problem for England .

Hales and Buttler smashed the Indian attack and featured  stunning sensational power – hitting opening stand . Buttler finished the match in style with a humungous six  and remained unbeaten with a power – packed 80 off mere 49 balls ( 9 fours, 3 sixes). His partner Alex Hales was equally devastating with range of power shots . Hales was not out too with an impressive  86 ( 47 balls, 4, fours, 7 sixes) . The manner of the onslaught will hurt India for long. England romped home to 170/ 0 in 16 overs .

Indian bowlers had simply no answer to the English duo’s firepower and the figures read a dismal : Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0/ 25 ( 2 over) , Arshdeep Singh 0/ 15 ( 2 over) , Axar Patel 0/ 30 ( 4 overs) , Mohammed Shami 0/ 39 ( 3 overs) , Ravichandran Ashwin 0/ 27 ( 2 over) , Hardik Pandya 0/ 34 ( 3 overs).