England will take on India in a third successive T20 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday.
The teams have met at the same stage in the past two editions, with England thrashing their rivals by 10 wickets in Adelaide in 2022 and India gaining revenge with a 68-run triumph in Guyana two years ago.
On both occasions, the victors went on to lift the trophy, and India have set up a trilogy against Harry Brook’s side after defeating the West Indies by five wickets in their winner-takes-all showdown.
Both India and the Windies had beaten Zimbabwe and lost to South Africa in their Super 8 group, with England defeating Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand in recent days to finish top of theirs.
The Windies posted 195 for four after being asked to bat first in Kolkata, where an unbroken 76-run blitz in the last 35 balls from Jason Holder and Rovman Powell propelled them to an imposing total.
All six Windies batters reached double figures, clubbing 10 sixes and 14 fours between them, but no-one got to a fifty, with Roston Chase benefiting being dropped on 14 to top-score with 40 from 25 balls.
India put down three catches in total and then slipped to 41 for two midway through the fifth over but Sanju Samson, not in the team at the outset of the tournament, stood up when it mattered most to anchor the chase.
The opener flayed four sixes and a dozen fours in an unbeaten 97 not out from 50 balls, with others batting around him, as India got over the line with four deliveries to spare to finish second in their pool behind South Africa.
It is a little over a year ago that India beat England 4-1 in a bilateral T20 series, which concluded with a crushing 150-run win at the Wankhede Stadium, where the teams will meet later this week.
India raced to 247 for nine in February last year, powered by Abishek Sharma’s 135, which was more than the entire England team amassed as they were bundled out for a sorry 97.
India have won nine of their last 12 T20s against England, including five of the last six matches.
In the other match of the day South Africa confirmed their spot at the top of the Super 8s group to set up their own semi-final against New Zealand.
Playing Zimbabwe, the Proteas restricted their opponents to 153 for 7 from their 20 overs and secured a five wicket win with 13 balls to spare.
Dewald Brevis struck 42 from 18 deliveries and there were strong contributions from Ryan Rickleton and David Miller as South Africa continued their winning streak in the tournament.
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