T20 World Cup: No Dream Finale - England Too Good For India
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2022-11-10 13:40:03
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
What an anti-climax!!!!! India did not know what hit them as England crushed them by 10 wickets in one of the most one-sided T20 World Cup semi-finals ever and spoiled the party for millions of fans worldwide who were gearing up for a dream final between India and Pakistan.
For the last few years, whenever Indian bowlers have had an off day in white ball cricket, India has always lost. This was proved once again today as Jos Buttler and Alex Hales hit form at the right time and toyed with the Indian bowling which was neither penetrative nor restrictive. Although Bhuveshwar Kumar got a few past Buttler's bat in the first over, that was about all. The Indian bowlers did not test the Englishmen, were strangely off colour, did not bowl to their field and allowed the English batters to score runs at will. This would go down as one of the most insipid bowling performances by India in recent times, at par with the similar disastrous showing against Pakistan in the group stage in the T20 World Cup last year when they too beat India by 10 wickets.
In the end, despite a solid innings from Virat Kohli( 50) and a blistering one from Hardik Pandya (63), 168 was not a par score on this pitch. Batting first after having lost the toss, the only way India could have put pressure on England would have been by scoring 200. But first K L Rahul unnecessarily chased an outgoing delivery to give catching practice to Buttler and then the in-form Suryakumar Yadav miscued an intended inside out shot straight into the hands of the deep cover fielder to peg the team back. The English spinners bowled to a plan and to their field and even Virat Kohli could not find the gaps. If Hardik had not indulged in some heavy lifting in the end, the blushes would have been deeper.
