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India hammer England to book T20 World Cup final with South Africa

Published

2 days ago

June 28, 2024

(Last Updated On: )

Left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel took three wickets apiece as India thrashed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday to set up a T20 World Cup final against South Africa.

England, set a challenging target of 172, slumped to 103 all out inside 17 overs, wrist spinner Kuldeep finishing with figures of 3-19 and the orthodox Patel 3-23.

India, bidding for their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy, will now play South Africa — also unbeaten at this tournament after a nine-wicket hammering of Afghanistan in their semi-final — in Saturday’s final in Barbados.

The Kensington Oval clash will also be India’s second appearance in successive global showpiece games after they lost on home soil to Australia in last year’s 50-over World Cup final.

“It’s very satisfying to win this game,” said India skipper Rohit Sharma after his team gained revenge for a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup.

“We worked really hard as a unit. To win like that was a great effort from everybody.”

Rohit laid the foundations by top-scoring with 57 in a total of 171-7 after his side were somewhat surprisingly sent into bat by England skipper Jos Buttler.

It was the opener’s third fifty of the tournament and second in as many games following his blistering 92 against Australia.

– ‘India outplayed us’ –

India were 40-2 in the powerplay after Virat Kohli (nine) and Rishabh Pant (four) both fell cheaply.

But a third-wicket stand of 73 between Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (47), spanning a rain delay of over an hour, turned the tide.

Patel, the player of the match, said: “I knew that the wicket was stopping and had something for the bowlers…Our batters told us the pitch wasn’t easy to hit the ball. We felt it (171) was a good total.”

Defeat meant the only Test side that England had beaten at this event were co-hosts the West Indies, with the title-holders also losing to Australia and South Africa.

“India outplayed us, certainly,” said Buttler. “We let them maybe get 20-25 too many (runs) on a challenging surface that they played well on. They fully deserved to win.

“They’ve got some fantastic spinners. Our two (Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone) bowled well but in hindsight, probably should’ve bowled Moeen (Ali) in our innings with the way spin was playing.

“But with a good score and their brilliant bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase.

Buttler launched England’s reply with a brisk 23. When he attempted to reverse sweep Patel’s first ball, however, he clipped a gentle catch off the toe-end of the bat to wicketkeeper Pant.

Fellow opener Phil Salt was then clean bowled by Jasprit Bumrah’s well-disguised slower ball.

England then saw 34-2 become 35-3 when Patel bowled dangerman Jonny Bairstow for a duck.

Moeen was then stumped by Pant and when Sam Curran was lbw to Kuldeep, England were in dire straits at 49-5 in the ninth over.

Wickets continued to tumble and when Livingstone, the last of England’s specialist batsmen, was run out for 11 after a dreadful mix-up with Jofra Archer, England were all but beaten at 86-8.

Archer struck a couple of defiant sixes but Bumrah ended the match when he had the England paceman lbw for 21 with a low full toss.

(AFP)

Related Topics:#T20WorldCup ArianaNews england featured final India

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Kohli announces retirement from T20 cricket after India’s World Cup victory

It was India’s second T20 World Cup victory after they had won it in 2007 under the legendary MS Dhoni in South Africa, and first since winning the Champions Trophy in 2013.

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Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20 cricket after lifting the Man of the Match trophy on Saturday night following India’s victory against South Africa in the ICC T20 World Cup.

For India it had been a 17-year wait for the T20 World Cup trophy, which they lifted after beating South Africa by only seven runs.

“This was my last T20 World Cup, and this is what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel you can’t get a run, and then things happen.

“God is great, and I got the job done for the team on the day it mattered. Now or never, the last T20 for India wanted to make the most of it. Wanted to lift the cup, and respect the situation rather than force it.

“This was an open secret, it’s time for the next generation to take over, some amazing players will take the team forward and keep the flag waving high”, said Kohli in the post-match presentation.

It was India’s second T20 World Cup victory after they had won it in 2007 under the legendary MS Dhoni in South Africa, and first since winning the Champions Trophy in 2013.

The former Indian captain and two time world cup winner, Dhoni, expressed his gratitude in an Instagram post after Saturday’s win and said: “WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS 2024. My heart rate was up, well done on being calm, having the self-belief and doing what you guys did. From all the Indians back home and everywhere in the world, a big thank you for bringing the World Cup home. CONGRATULATIONS. Arreeee, thanks for the priceless birthday gift.”

This victory not only secured India’s place in cricket history but also provided a fitting farewell to head coach Rahul Dravid, capping off a memorable performance that will be celebrated for years to come.

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Afghanistan’s national futsal team is scheduled to play two friendly matches against Morocco next month, it was announced on Saturday.

The matches will be played behind closed doors on 10th and 13th July in Morocco, the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) said.

AFF highlighted that the matches are arranged in preparation for the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup, adding that it will bear the cost.

The 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup is scheduled to start on 14 September in Uzbekistan.

It will be Afghanistan’s first appearance in the tournament.

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‘It is just the beginning for us’, says Rashid Khan after T20 World Cup semi against South Africa

The Afghanistan Cricket Board sent out a heartfelt message to Rashid Khan after the match and said in a post on social media: “Chin up, Skipp! You’ve given us the World this event!”

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Afghanistan’s skipper Rashid Khan said on Thursday following their ICC T20 World Cup match against South Africa that it had been a tough game for the team, and that the team slipped in the batting department.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rashid said: “It was a tough match for us. We might have done a little better than that, but the conditions didn’t allow us to do what we want.

“You have to be mentally ready for any conditions, but the way they bowled was exceptional. We just couldn’t bat well.”

However, he paid tribute to his fast bowlers, and said they had really come into their own.

“The way they stood up for us [the fast bowlers] throughout the tournament is why we had success.

“The way Naveen and Fazal bowled, that made our job as a spinning unit easier in the middle.

“Overall, we are quite happy with the way we managed ourselves in pressure situations. That was very pleasing.

“Beating big teams is very special for us. It is just the beginning for us.

“We now have the belief that we can beat any side on the day.

“We learned a lot of things, and the next time the belief will be there, and much better than this.”

Afghanistan, who looked like they could do no wrong throughout this tournament, finally came undone in their semi-final match against South Africa.

But it had been a thrilling tournament for the team, who had until now never reached a semi-final stage in any ICC event.

On Thursday, after winning the toss and electing to bat first, Afghanistan was quickly put to the test by South Africa.

In the end, they were scuttled out for 56.

Despite the wicket providing the odd surprise, the South African top order managed to ultimately cruise to the target inside of nine overs to secure them a spot for the first time in the ICC tournament final.

In his post-match discussion, South Africa’s captain Aidan Markram said: “It feels good. It is not really the captain that gets you here – it is a massive squad effort.

“Really chuffed for us to have one more crack to lift a trophy.

“It was special. We were fortunate to lose the toss. We also wanted to bat.

“The bowlers put the ball in the right areas and made life tough for the Afghanistan batters.

“It was quite tough, but we knew it was a matter of a partnership to take the sting out upfront.

“Just one more step [the final]. It is an exciting challenge that we have never had.

“There is a lot of belief. We have played really good cricket for a couple of years as a white-ball group.”

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Cricket Board sent out a heartfelt message to Rashid Khan after the match and said in a post on social media: “Chin up, Skipp! You’ve given us the World this event!”

ESPNcricinfo also wrote an encouraging message on X and said: “Regardless of the result today, it’s been a historic #T20WorldCup campaign for Afghanistan”

Some commentators however questioned the ICC’s schedule stating that playing an important semi-final just 48 hours after their Super 8 clash against Bangladesh seemed too much for Afghanistan.

In addition to this, a four-hour flight delay from St Vincent meant the team only arrived in Trinidad on the eve of the match – leaving no time for practise or rest.

Members of the public, both locally and abroad, meanwhile took to social media in their droves and congratulated Afghanistan on their overall performance during the T20 World Cup.

Rajat Agarwala from India said: “Embrace the loss Rashid Bhai and feel proud for what you have achieved. The best ever performance by AFG team. Congratulations.”

BeingBhaijaan wrote: “Chin up #AfghanAtalan, we are proud of you. Thank you for all that you do to bring happiness to our nation. You guys are amazing.”

Another Indian fan said: “Afghanistan is a rising force of cricket, its a learning for you, keep the motivation high, you will become world champions soon, at least earlier than many other teams.”

A Delhi-based journalist, Harish Kumar, summed up Afghanistan’s success these past few weeks and said in a post on X: “Achieving this position is a remarkable accomplishment, not only demonstrating exceptional gameplay but also captivating the global audience with exemplary conduct. Regardless of the game’s outcome, you stand as the ultimate victor.”