Both the England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales made short and easy work of the 169-run target set by India as the Indian team failed to make a match out of it in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 at Adelaide Oval on November,10 Thursday. Hales took the Indian attack to the cleaners along with Buttler as England rushed into the final with a dynamic 10-wicket win over the Indian team . England will now face Pakistan for finals at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, November 13.
Put in to bat first after the toss, India posted 168 for six wickets after Virat Kohli’s 40-ball 50 runs and Hardik Pandya’s 33-ball 63 runs. In reply, England made a mockery of the chase by romping home with four overs to spare, with Alex Hales (86) and Jos Buttler (80) producing commanding half centuries during their unbroken opening stand while the Indian bowlers cut a sorry figure and stayed wicket-less the entire inning and Chris Jordan returned with 3 for 43 for team England.
Earlier, Hardik Pandya played the innings of his life to take the team to 168 runs for 6 wickets and what a stage to perform it. A World Cup semi-final with India in trouble and Pandya does what he does best at this time – taking the England attack to the cleaners at the end of the inning. His 63 came off 33 balls and it was only his innings that had given India something to bowl at which otherwise was going nowhere in the bowling time.
Virat Kohli once again held the Indian innings together before he was dismissed for a well-made 50 off 40. The runs were hard to come by and made as Suryakumar Yadav (14) departed. Before that, Chris Jordan ended Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s (27 off 28) struggle, leaving Buttler pleased with the way his bowlers had kept things quiet in the first inning of the match. England had drawn first blood with Chris Woakes getting rid of opener KL Rahul in the second over of the match only.
Alex Hales and captain Jos Buttler shone in an unbroken opening partnership as England humiliated India by 10 wickets at Adelaide Oval, Australia. England, who won the 50-over World Cup on home ground in 2019, can now become the first team to hold both global trophies when they meet Pakistan in the final at the MCG. They have rehabilitated opener Hales and skipper Buttler to thank as the duo chased down the score for victory with around four overs to spare, leaving a huge crowd of India supporters shocked.
Team India Playing 11:
KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh
Team England Playing 11:
Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid
