Jos Buttler and Alex Hales steered England into the World Cup final with a 10-wicket thrashing of India in a clinical exhibition of T20 batting.
Inspired by the broadest of bats from their opening pair, England saved their best until the business end of the tournament with India never threatening to make it even a close contest. They made such light work of their 169 run target that India’s IPL superstars looked dazed and confused by the gap between the teams.
When Buttler hit the winning runs with a powerful straight drive for six there were still 24 balls remaining, but no-one could blame the Indian players for wanting to get off the field quickly on a horror night for them. Buttler was true to his word before this game in trying to create better memories from this Adelaide Oval ground where England were dumped out of the 2015 World Cup by Bangladesh.
