The ghost of Adelaide 2022 was firmly laid to rest in Guyana 2024, as team India scripted a dominating win against England at the Providence Stadium on Friday. In a start-stop game, dictated partially by rain, India lost the toss and was asked to bat first.
India posted 171 runs for the loss of seven wickets, with significant contributions from Sharma, who slammed his 32nd T20I fifty, scoring a 39-ball 57 and Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 47 off 36 balls. Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja provided the rear guard as India sailed past the 170-run mark.
Patel also shone with the ball in hand, picking up three wickets. He was adjudged the Player of the Match. Kuldeep Yadav too finished with figures of three for 19 off his four overs. Among the four other wickets, Jasprit Bumrah accounted for two, and mix-ups resulted in runouts of Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid.
England were eventually bowled out for 103 runs in 17 overs, avenging the 10-wicket defeat at Adelaide, Australia, in 2022.
The win will now see India take on South Africa in the final at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday. This is the first time the T20 World Cup will have an unbeaten team as champion.
