England were unable to pull another rabbit out of the hat at the T20 World Cup despite Jacob Bethell's astonishing 105 from 48 balls as defending champions India crept into Sunday's final.
Having got out of several tight situations to reach the semi-finals, England were seemingly out for the count after India piled up 253 for seven, with 19 sixes and 18 fours, on a batter's paradise in Mumbai.
It is the highest total England have ever conceded in a T20 but their resilience has been in ample supply in recent weeks and despite slipping to 95 for four, Bethell kept them firmly in contention.
They were ahead of India at the same stage after 17 overs but some nerveless death bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya left Bethell with too much to do and he was run out at the denouement as England lost by seven runs, with the conquerors setting up a showpiece showdown against New Zealand.
Bethell, who joined Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Harry Brook as English men's centurions in all three formats, clubbed eight fours and seven sixes but England were ultimately outmuscled by India in a third successive T20 World Cup semi-final meeting between the teams.
Sanju Samson top-scored for India with 89 off 42 balls after being given a reprieve on 15 by Brook.
The England captain spilled a simple chance in the third over and it proved alarmingly costly but Samson was backed up by belligerent cameos from Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Pandya and Tilak Varma.
All of England's bowlers were milked for at least 10 an over and although man of the moment Will Jacks and Adil Rashid took a couple of wickets each, Jofra Archer's one for 61 were the most expensive figures in his side's history at this tournament.
Samson had already deposited Archer into the stands when he mistimed the paceman to Brook and had the catch stuck India would have been 24 for two, with Abhishek Sharma earlier holing out off England star man Jacks.
As it was, a regulation head-height chance popped out, leaving Brook with his hands forlornly on his knees as he and Archer shared wry smiles, while Samson poured salt in the wound with a mammoth 88-metre hit over deep midwicket two balls later and India did not look back.
They ruthlessly exploited the powerplay fielding restrictions and hardly slowed down thereafter as Samson shared 97 in 45 balls with Kishan, who skewed to Jacks in the deep off Rashid for 39.
Dube, though, is a master of batting against spin and he hammered Rashid for three sixes in his 43, but with a ton in sight for Samson he clothed Jacks to Phil Salt running in from the boundary.
There was more carnage to come, however, Archer belted for three sixes in the penultimate over by Varma (21), while Pandya (27) also smoked a couple of maximums off Jacks to take India past 250.
A boom-or-bust approach was required and Salt and Brook perished attempting big hits and while Buttler threatened a return to form after 15 runs in his last five innings, he fell for 25 after being bowled by Varun Chakravarthy.
That came in the same over Bethell had walloped the mystery spinner for three sixes in a row before he found a capable ally in Jacks, who has won a record-equalling four player of the match awards at this tournament.
The pair stitched together a 77-run stand in 39 balls before a stunning relay catch between Axar Patel and Dube brought about Jacks' downfall, although Bethell put on 50 in 27 deliveries alongside Sam Curran.
Bethell, who offered a hint of a chance on 48 as Patel missed a run-out chance, reached three figures off 45 deliveries but found Bumrah and Pandya in the 18th and 19th overs difficult to get away, meaning England needed 30 off the last six balls.
Coming back for a second to stay on strike, Bethell was run out and that effectively ended England's challenge as they posted 246 for seven to suffer a third semi-final defeat in the last four editions.
