That was modest of Samson, but if anyone else was going to pip him to the match award, it should have been Axar Patel. His fielding was phenomenal, first when he caught Harry Brook in the deep, running back, and then when, uncredited on the scorecard, he got an inspired assist for the catch by Dube that got rid of the tenacious Jacks. In a game of 499 runs, the winner is the team that fielded better.
Never mind the players – I am now a spent force, so I’m going to collapse in a heap. Simon Burnton’s match report will be with you shortly. Thanks for your company, correspondence and strong views on England’s bowling. They did a lot better with the bat, displaying great spirit and, in Bethell’s case, supernatural composure. A superstar is born.
Jofra Archer scored 19 off four balls. Jacob Bethell produced a twin for his lovely Ashes hundred by making 105 off 48 balls. If he had had just a little more of the strike, England might have got over the line. Will Jacks did well again, taking two wickets when England desperately needed them and then scoring 35 to add 77 with Bethell and give the travelling fans a glimmer of hope.
But the night belongs to Sanju Samson, who set the tone for the whole game with his 89 off 42 balls. He is, understandably, the Player of the Match. “Even 250 looked chaseable here,” he says. “Very happy with how the team turned up today… Jasprit Bumrah is a once-in-a-generation bowler. I think it [his award] should go to him actually.”
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INDIA WIN BY SEVEN RUNS!
20th over: England 246-7 (Overton 2, Archer 19) Shivam Dube has come on for his first over at an interesting moment. He starts well, finding those yorkers. Jofra Archer whacks a six, the 32nd of the day, and another. But only no-balls can save England now. They need 16 off the last ball. Another six! But it’s not enough. The fans wave flags, take photos, make every kind of noise.
India will play New Zealand in the final on Sunday. And England will go home, knowing they came very very close. If Harry Brook had held that catch …
Bethell made 105 off 48 balls, hitting sixes for fun, then switching to fours. But he couldn’t quite see it through. We have been watching one of the great heroic failures.
WICKET! Bethell run out 105 (England 225-6)
Bethell hits a straight drive, busts a gut to get back for two, and finds Hardik at long-off targeting his end. The game is up.
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19th over: England 224-6 (Bethell 104, Overton 1) With 31 needed off eight balls, Bethell can only manage a cover drive for a single, straight to the man on the edge of the ring. Overton misses the last ball, and Hardik has almost certainly sealed the match by taking 1-3 off the last five balls of that over.
England need 30 off the last over, which is about ten too many.
WICKET! Curran c Varma b Hardik 18 (England 222-6)
Curran almost clips Hardik for six, only to see Tilak Varma taking the catch on the midwicket boundary, cool as you like.
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A hundred to Jacob Bethell!
Bethell swings Hardik for six – through the fingers of Axar Patel – to reach a great, great hundred. It has come off 45 balls, the third-fastest for England in T20s. “What a talent he is,” says Eoin Morgan.
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18th over: England 215-5 (Bethell 96, Curran 18) SKY was conferring with Hardik about whether to give Bumrah his last over now. He goes for it. Eoin Morgan reckons that could help England, as it allows them to hit freely in the last two overs. Bumrah bowls three yorkers: dot, one, one. Too good! Curran, always resourceful, tucks a full toss away for two. The rate climbs to 17 an over. Are the batters just trying to see Bumrah off? Nasser thinks so. Bethell clips a single, so does Curran. Six off the over! Great bowling. Bumrah finishes with 4-0-33-1, which England would have given him if they’d been asked.
England need 39 off the last two overs. It’s a tall order.
17th over: England 209-5 (Bethell 94, Curran 14) Back comes Arshdeep, whose last over was mostly wides, plus a big wicket. He starts with a wide now, but then gets his yorker spot-on, with some reverse inswing, and Bethell does superbly to jab his bat down on it. Curran gets a two, then just a single – almost as good as a wicket to the Indians now.
England need a big hit and Bethell must know that. After another wide, he nails a straight drive down the ground. Six! I think that’s his first six since his 12th ball. And he adds a squirt for four. Sixteen off the over! England need 45 off the last three. Their chances sneak up to 22pc, but Bethell will have to stay there.
16th over: England 193-5 (Bethell 83, Curran 11) Back comes Bumrah. It’s not boom boom, it’s pace off. One, one… four! Classy from Curran, clipping the yorker into the gap at deep square. The next yorker yields a dot, cheered like a wicket. Two singles to finish.
The rate, which stayed so long at 13 or so, creeps up towards 15. England’s chances are 12 per cent. I’d put them a bit lower than that, but they’ve done so well to stay in the game.
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15th over: England 185-5 (Bethell 81, Curran 5) SKY brings back Chakravarty for his final over. Bethell, who seems to have a supernatural temperament, cuts for two and drives for four. That’s six of the required 13 or 14 off the first two balls. In fact seven off two, as the next delivery is a wide. Sam Curran plays himself in for one ball, then pulls for four. That’s 13 off the over! England need 69 from the last five.
Chakravarty finishes with 4-0-64-1. In a game of T20 on a flat pitch, any bowler, however good, can get marmalised.
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14th over: England 172-5 (Bethell 74, Curran 0) Suryakumar brings back Arshdeep, the less famous of his two fast bowlers. His over has a little bit of everything. Bethell pops him over gully for four, like a small boy reaching up to post a letter. Arshdeep fights back, restricting the batters to ones and twos, flirting with a wide – but then he goes too far and bowls three wides in a row. Just when England’s chances have rocketed to 11 per cent, he gets the prized wicket of Jacks, as Axar’s brilliance on the boundary bails him out.
That’s the end of a sizzling partnership, 77 off 6.3 overs. And now Bethell has to do it on his own. England need 82 off six overs.
WICKET! Jacks c Dube b Arshdeep 35 (England 172-5)
Wow! Jacks slices a big hit. It’s heading for six until Axar intercepts it and passes it, like a scrum-half, to Dube. Axar collapses over the boundary, the ball is safely caught, and England’s saviour is not quite going to save them today.
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13th over: England 160-4 (Bethell 65, Jacks 35) Jacks is fully warmed up now. Facing Axar, he pulls another six, then gets a lucky four as SKY misfields at cover. Axar is bowling so wide that the batters could just leave that ball if they feel like a breather. But the adrenaline is pumping and they keep trying to smash it. Axar has done pretty well (3-0-35-1) and yet England, somehow, are almost up with the rate. They need 94 off seven overs at 13 and a half.
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12th over: England 145-4 (Bethell 61, Jacks 24) So England took 11 off Bumrah’s second over, which is good going. Now they face Chakravarty again. Bethell reverse-sweeps him for four: after getting ’em in sixes (five off his first 12 balls), he’s now getting ’em in fours (five off his last 12 balls). Jacks grabs the baton and hits his first six, slog-swept over midwicket.
Chakravarty’s figures continue to bring some solace to the bruised egos in the England dug-out: 3-0-51-1.
A fab fifty from Bethell
11th over: England 131-4 (Bethell 55, Jacks 16) Heeere’s Jasprit. Jacks manages to chip him over the covers for four. timing it like a man with four Player of the Match Awards in his suitcase. “Boom boom Bumrah!” go the crowd, roused by the announcer, much to the distaste of one of the commentators.
Jacob Bethell takes a two to reach a fabulous fifty – 51 off 19 balls. That’s the fastest fifty of this tournament, equal with four others. Equal with Finn Allen! Bethell celebrates with a pull for four, pinging it like Gower. What a star he is.
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10th over: England 119-4 (Bethell 49, Jacks 11) Axar continues and for Jacks, it’s the over of living dangerously. Jacks is almost run out as a sharp throw comes in from Hardik at backward point. Then Axar appeals for LBW, and England somehow steal two leg-byes. But there are no big shots and the over goes for only six. At the halfway stage, England need 135 off ten overs. Three of which will be bowled by Bumrah.
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9th over: England 113-4 (Bethell 48, Jacks 9) Chakravarthy returns with his leg-breaks. Bethell pulls his first ball for four, to bring up the 100 off 49 balls, and slaps the second over cover for four more. Jacks goes for the big swing without getting a sighter and almost loses his off bail. Next ball, he puts away with a lofted clip for four. That’s 14 off the over, and Chakravarty has the sort of figures that might make England’s bowlers feel a bit better: 2-0-37-1.
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8th over: England 99-4 (Bethell 39, Jacks 4) Axar Patel’s left-arm darts have often bothered England and so it proves again. Banton lofted his first ball over extra-cover and his second over long-on, but the third was too good to be slog-swept and Axar roared with delight. England respond by promoting Will Jacks, their all-round saviour, and he produces a pull for four.
India were 90-1 at this stage. We were dead impressed by the 90, when perhaps we should have been admiring the 1.
WICKET! Banton b Axar 17 (England 95-4)
Bowled going for a third six in a row!
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7th over: England 83-3 (Bethell 39, Banton 5) SKY decides to keep Hardik on for a third over. He may mildly regret it as Bethell pulls for six and reverse-scoops for four. That’s his first four after five sixes: he has 39 off 14 balls. And England have more runs than India had at this stage.
Drinks were taken after Buttler’s wicket, which allowed me to glance at the mailbag. This one seems fairly representative. “Where to start,” says David in Canada. “Fielding awful. Wrong call at toss. Overton getting carted to all parts and Rehan couldn’t be worse. Sadly got up at 5:30 to watch this shambles.” Feeling for you, David, but apart from Brook’s dropped catch, England didn’t do badly. India’s batting was phenomenal.
6th over: England 68-3 (Bethell 26, Banton 4) Bethell has a plan here: get ’em in sixes. He greets India’s premier spinner, Varun Chakravartya, with a pull for six, an off-drive for six, and a reverse sweep for six. The only problem is that this rather rebounds on poor Buttler, who gets a very good ball.
Tom Banton starts with a reverse slog-sweep for four. England are showing some mettle here. The required rate, for what it’s worth, is still about 13.
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WICKET! Buttler b Chakravarty 25 (England 64-3)
Castled by the googly! But still, 25 was Buttler’s best innings for ages.
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5th over: England 45-2 (Buttler 25, Bethell 7) That was inspired captaincy from Surykumar Yadav, who kept Bumrah up his sleeve until Brook was there (not that it took long). Brook wasn’t expecting the slower ball, whereas the Indian batters seemed to see England’s pace-off varieties coming a mile off.
Jacob Bethell, who is not easily fazed, gets off the mark with a six, whipped to fine leg. But then Bumrah bamboozles him outside off and he’s lucky to get away with a loopy edge.
WICKET! Brook c Axar b Bumrah 7 (England 38-2)
Bumrah strikes with his first ball! Brook chips his slower ball into the clouds. When it comes down it is beautifully taken by Axar, running back from cover. That’s the big wicket.
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4th over: England 38-1 (Buttler 25, Brook 7) Hardik continues, too: no need for bowling changes yet. SKY could hand over the captaincy to ChatGPT and still win by a street. A single or two, and then Brook produces his first flourish, a glorious pull for four. He spied a bouncer, shaped to cut, changed his mind at the last second, and still sent the ball sailing to midwicket.
And Buttler hits a six! It’s ungainly, but he gets enough on it to get it over long-off. Thirteen off the over. Another 16 overs like that and England will be fine.
3rd over: England 25-1 (Buttler 18, Brook 1) Arshdeep continues. Buttler tries a Brook-style shimmy but can’t quite lay bat on ball. Next he drills a yorker straight for four, so at least he has made it into double figures. Then there’s a mistimed clonk to midwicket, and a play-and-miss outside off. “He’s just losing all his shape,” says Mike Atherton. A mistimed chip over the covers for two. Another straight drive for four. In what could be his last T20 international innings, Buttler isn’t going down without a fight.
England’s chances have sunk from 4 per cent to 2. They surely rest on the shoulders of Harry Brook.
2nd over: England 15-1 (Buttler 8, Brook 1) Salt swished Hardik high into the night sky, and Axar Patel made no mistake. That brings in Harry Brook, who made a big mistake at this stage of India’s innings. Undaunted, Brook goes down the track to his first ball, taking a single. Hardik, with his tail up now, beats Buttler outside off and then with a short ball that sails over the stumps. When Buttler tries to hit back with a ramp, he misses it and settles for a leg-bye off his shoulder.
So India have their first wicket, England are behind the rate, and Bumrah hasn’t even bowled yet.
WICKET! Salt c Axar b Hardik 5 (England 13-1)
Hardik strikes with his first ball!
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1st over: England 13-0 (Salt 5, Buttler 8) So England began with four, one, four. Now Arshdeep manages a dot, and then very nearly yorks Buttler – who does well to get his bat on it, let alone inside-edge it for four, nutmegging himself. England, at this early stage, are bang on the required rate.
Buttler hits a four!
Over cover! Buttler’s first boundary for donkey’s years. Atherton reckons it’s his most confident shot of the whole tournament.
1st ball: England 4-0 (Salt 4, Buttler 0) Salt glances the first delivery from Arshdeep for four, nice and fine. England ahead of the rate!
The one silver lining for England in this big black cloud is that it should be liberating for Buttler and Salt. They simply have to go hell for leather.
The Indians go into their huddle, with Jasprit Bumrah delivering the speech. “Right lads. It’s fine to concede 12 an over, but don’t you dare go for 13!”
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INDIA FINISH WITH 253!
20th over: India 253-7 (Axar 2, Chakravarty 0) The last ball beats Chakravarty, and Buttler, and dribbles away for two byes.
India, led by Samson, have piled up a monumental total. England, for all the fine efforts of Jacks and Rashid, are pretty much beaten already. Their win probability is 4 per cent.
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WICKET! Hardik run out 27 (India 251-6)
Hardik, who clearly has no faith in Azar patel, tries to get back for a second. Jacob Bethell fires in a fine throw and Buttler does the rest.
19.4 overs: India 250-6 (Hardik 26, Axar 1) Brook hands the last over to Jacks, the man with the magic touch. Hardik isn’t bothered: he slogs a huge six from outside off, turns down a single, and belts another six down the ground. That brings up the 250!
19th over: India 237-6 (Hardik 14, Axar 1) Jofra Archer returns for his last over. Varma, waiting for him, lofts a length ball over long-on. Archer manages a dot as Varma backs away to leg. Archer bowls a yorker, or a low full-toss – which Varma deflects over third man for six! That’s the 14th time India have deposited the ball in the stands tonight. The 15th follows immediately as Varma pulls an off-cutter over backward square. Archer, trying to follow him as he backs away, bowls a wide. Finally, the wicket that Archer should have had when Samson clothed him to Brook at mid-on. His figures end up as a chastening 4-0-61-1.
WICKET! Varma b Archer 21 (India 236-6)
Archer produces a rapid yorker and bowls Varma off an inside edge – but only after being hit for three sixes in four balls.
18th over: India 217-5 (Hardik 14, Varma 3) Back comes Sam Curran, bearing moon balls. While I wonder if I have written this before, Dube simply waits for the first delivery and lifts it into the stand at long-on. Curran retorts with a yorker and reckons he’s got Dube LBW, but when Brook reviews, the replay shows it’s going down. Then comes the run-out, a blessed relief for Brook. Next ball, Curran induces a top edge as Hardik thriows the bat (literally), but Tom Banton, coming in from long-on, can’t quite cling onto a tough chance. Then there’s a delay as Tilak Varma needs some treatment – for a tweaked hamstring, Nasser suspects.
Curran gets out of the over with a wide and a single. He has reached his half-century: 4-0-53-0. And he’s bowled quite a few good balls.
WICKET! Dube run out 43 (India 212-5)
Hardik calls for a quick single, then changes his mind. Brook throws down the stumps, Dube has to go, Hardik waves a hand in apology. That’s a sliver of redemption for Brook after his dreadful drop earlier.
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17th over: India 205-4 (Dube 37, Hardik 13) India know they can have some fun for the final four overs. Hardik Pandya starts with a ramp for four, and he’s not even looking at the ball as he flicks it over his shoulder like a pinch of salt. Hardik brings up the 200 with what you might call an early cut, seeing it so well that he slaps it to extra-cover’s right. And then he shows he can play a late cut too. He has 13 from just six balls.
16th over: India 190-4 (Dube 35, Pandya 0) Just before the wicket Rashid was launched into the crowd, twice. He finishes with 4-0-041-2, better than most.
Nasser Hussain reveals that the record international run chase on this ground is 230 – by England against South Africa in a World T20. India’s total is projected to reach 238.
WICKET! Suryakumar st buttler b Rashid 11 (India 190-4)
England’s two old salts gang up on India’s captain. Rashid bowls his trusty googly, SKY goes down the track and yorks himself, leaving Buttler to pull off a silky stumping.
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15th over: India 177-3 (Dube 28, Suryakumar 5) Back comes Sam Curran, ever willing. He gets a sharp bouncer past Dube’s helmet, only to follow up with a wide and then a moon ball that Dube, happy to bide his time, thumps for four. Ten from the over, which almost feels like progress. Curran has 3-0-42-0: he always makes things happen, but today it’s been mostly the wrong things.
“England are looking down the barrel of a total north of 250,” says Colum Fordham, “which even considering England’s aggressive batting, looks mildly daunting. Only 3 or 4 wickets might thwart India but it looks unlikely. England’s bowlers have no answers to this brutal onslaught, not even the wily Rashid.
Brook is going to have to play a sensational innings and will be motivated after his dropped dolly. Samson? Devastating. Where’s Delilah when you need her?”
Well, she was one of my nicknames at school – does that count?
14th over: India 167-3 (Dube 20, Suryakumar 4) Here is SKY. Coming into quite a comfy situation for a captain, he opens his account with a breezy two.
Meanwhile his haggard opposite number is relying on Will Jacks once again. He has 3-0-26-2, while all the other bowlers have 11-0-141-1.
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Brook turned to Jacks, who struck immediately. He threw it out wide of off to tempt Samson, who took the bait. Phil Salt again took a composed catch in the deep, renewing the double act that did for Abhishek, several years ago now.
That is the end of a phenomenal innings – 89 off 42 balls, or seven overs. Samson has got one hand on the Man of the Match award already.
WICKET!!! Samson c Salt b Jacks 89 (India 160-3)
Will Jacks does it yet again!
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13th over: India 160-2 (Samson 89, Dube 18) Brook brings back Archer, hoping for a breakthrough or a miracle. Samson flails him over backward point for six, his 15th six of the tournament (from just four innings). Archer replies with an attempted toe ball that turns out to be a leg-side wide. Samson adds another six, a forehand drive down the line. Fifteen off the over and Archer now has 3-0-41-0. Worse still, it means that England have to do the same to Bumrah.
“Ooh err,” says Andrew Benton. “Brook’s got previous in the butterfingers department, you’d have thought he’d have put some effort into improving after his Ashes drops.” To be fair, he probably has.
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12th over: India 145-2 (Samson 76, Dube 17) Rashid, England’s best bowler today as so often, finds the first ball of this over being belted for six by Dube. And the fifth ball too. Fifteen off the over and the Indian fans are dancing in the stands.
“An existential England T20 parable for our times,” says Mark Beadle. “Waiting for Buttler.”
11th over: India 130-2 (Samson 75, Dube 3) Overton returns, to be greeted with a straight six by Samson. The Overton window is getting wider: India’s projected total is now 231, almost unbeatable.
Mike Atherton comes on commentary and says “Jofra Archer bowled so poorly in the powerplay.” Atherton is a master broadcaster, but that seems harsh given that Archer is the only bowler to have bothered Samson. It was off his bowling that Brook dropped his clanger.
10th over: India 119-2 (Samson 67, Dube 1) So Rashid manages to strike a blow for England – after what feels like about 400 blows for India. Suryakumar Yadav springs a surprise by demoting himself in favour of Shivam Dube, who starts with a swing to leg. Rashid, again, ends his over well: one, dot, one after the wicket. He has 2-0-13-1 and he has given England a glimmer of hope.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” says Krish Krishnamoorthy. “Has the English team considered giving Samson a haircut?”
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WICKET!! Ishan Kishan c Jacks b Rashid 39 (India 117-2)
A dance down the track, a toe-end, a skyer and a nice calm catch from Will Jacks, England’s one-man team.
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9th over: India 112-1 (Samson 65, Ishan Kishan 35) Sam Curran returns from the other end. And both batters hit him for six! Ishan flicking over midwicket, Samson just lifting a pull over the fielder at deep square. Samson then smashes a four through extra-cover. Since reaching fifty, Samson has somehow managed to speed up (14 off his last five balls). If England don’t get a wicket soon, it will be game over.
Fifty to Samson!
8th over: India 92-1 (Samson 53, Ishan Kishan 28) Liam Dawson comes on and the carnage resumes. Ishan picks up a pair of twos and then both batters go ballistic. Samson hits a six over extra-cover, inside-out, and it takes him to a fearsomely good fifty off only 26 balls. Harry Brook’s drop has been horribly expensive. Ishan piles on the painwith a slog-sweep for six more.
Here’s Adam Hirst, quoting me back at myself. “‘As Finn Allen showed yesterday, an opener can win a semi-final all by himself.’ Ours can’t, Tim. We’re back to hoping Buttler will come good again, like we have been for most of the last 12 years in one form or another.”
Ours may look as if they can’t at the moment, Adam, but they’ve done it before – at least Buttler has.
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7th over: India 71-1 (Samson 45, Ishan Kishan 16) Sure enough, Rashid’s first ball is drilled through extra-cover by Samson. That brings up the fifty partnership, 51 off just 25 balls. Rashid restores order by varying his pace. Dot, one, one, dot: only six off the over, which makes it the best thing to happen to England since Abhishek’s wicket.
Here comes Adil Rashid. “Against two very fine players of spin,” says Nasser Hussain, ominously.
6th over: India 67-1 (Samson 41, Ishan Kishan 16) Off goes Jacks (2-0-19-1, very respectable) and on comes Sam Curran, bearing his wide range of slower balls. Samson is wise to them, waiting and waiting and chipping for four down the ground, then steering to third man. When Curran greets Ishan with a bumper, it’s too high and called a wide. Curran gets better as the over goes on but still goes for a few singles. The powerplay ends with India on Easy Street. According to CricViz, they already have a 76pc chance of a win.
Meanwhile, a Kiwi writes. “Now that my team has made it through to the final, I’m obviously supporting England,” says Alistair O’Connor. “Do I have to spell out why?” Ha. “The NZ-India final of the one-day Champions’ Trophy last year left a bad taste in my mouth. India had it wrapped up, but let it run to the last over. Unsporting, in my view.” That’s not the reason I was expecting.
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5th over: India 55-1 (Samson 31, Kishan 15) Archer, nursing those bad figures, gives way to Jamie Overton. each batter takes a sighter, and a single, before Ishan Kishan tucks in – a wristy whip for four, a flashing drive for four more. Overton manages a rare dot with a full ball, and another, with a spicy bouncer. But India are still in charge: this partnership ihas raced to 35 off 18 balls.
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4th over: India 45-1 (Samson 30, Kishan 6) Samson is batting like a man who has just made an unbeaten 90. He square-drives Jacks for four, and Ishan Kishan joins in the fun with a pinpoint sweep for four. Both batters take comfy singles too, and India are running away with this – though Salt does save a single with an acrobatic leap at cover. Fielding often says something about morale and Salt looks in good fettle despite his failures with the bat.
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3rd over: India 34-1 (Samson 25, Kishan 0) Samson makes England pay for that howler by pulling Archer for six over deep square. When Archer responds with a yorker, Samson glides it through gully for four. He’s got 25 off only 11 balls and Jofra who usually strikes in the powerplay, has 2-0-26-0.
Dropped!
Archer lures Samson into a drag to mid-on … where Harry Brook lets a simple chance slip through his fingers.
2nd over: India 20-1 (Samson 11, Kishan 0) Brook threw the ball to Will Jacks, the odd-job man who has become England’s matchwinner. He started with an arm ball, squirted for four by Abhishek, then settled for three balls before being lofted over extra-cover for another four. Abhishek tried to go big again and picked out the man at deep midwicket.
WICKET! Abhishek c Salt b Jacks 9
Will Jacks does it again!
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1st over: India 12-0 (Samson 11, Abhishek 1) Jofra Archer’s second ball beats Samson, who averages only 8 against him. But his third ball, dug in, is pulled for four over mid-on, if not with much timing. And the fourth ball, also short, is flipped over fine leg for six! So he’s beaten that average already. “That’s where Samson wants it,” says Dinesh Karthik. “He’s deep in the crease, almost both legs behind the crease.” When Jofra gets the memo and pitches it up, Samson pushes into the covers for a single, and Abhishek follows suit. Advantage India!
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An email! “Well Tim,” says Guy Hornsby, “the only thing we know is that no one knows anything. These two teams are capable of fireworks. India, the home favourites, star-studded and Uber talented. England, scraping through games with cameos, new and old players to the fore. So many storylines and any result possible really. RIP my nerves, come on England!”
Funny how spellcheck assumes that, by uber, we now mean Uber.
Brook gives someone a thumbs-up. He’s standing at slip next to Buttler, so England will be on the attack for at least one ball.
England’s first task is to stop Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson getting off to a flyer. As Finn Allen showed yesterday, an opener can win a semi-final all by himself.
Will Jacks belts out God Save The King like a peroxide version of a Chelsea pensioner. As soon as it finishes, Harry Brook pops a piece of chewing gum into his mouth. The young chaperones look on with mild curiosity from under their yellow bucket hats.
The teams come out for the anthems, through an avenue of fireworks. They are, as Ian Bishop puts it, “chaperoned by youngsters.”
The teams
Looking at the two line-ups, you’d have to say that India have the more powerful batting. Plus the supreme marksman in Bumrah, and a slow left-armer, Axar Patel, who eats English batters for breakfast. But this England team bat deep and never say die.
India 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wkt), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.
England 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wkt), 3 Harry Brook (capt), 4 Jacob Bethell, 5 Tom Banton, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Liam Dawson, 11 Adil Rashid.
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Buttler does some of the talking
An interesting detail from England’s huddle, spotted by our friends at Cricinfo. Harry Brook addressed the team as you’d expect, but first he got Jos Buttler to speak. Buttler has won a T20 World Cup as captain, one of only two Englishmen to do that (with Paul Collingwood), so he has priceless experience to impart. But he needs a helping hand at the moment and this sounds like a wise move, forcing him to think about what to say, and how to lift the others, rather than dwell on his own dismal run.
“He loves batting on this ground,” says his friend Eoin Morgan. “Played here for Mumbai Indians, came back many times and made runs… He’ll be hoping, as the fans will, that he turns up today.” He sure will.
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From our man in Mumbai
Simon Burnton sends a bulletin from the ground. “The area around the Wankhede,” he reports, “was chaos and carnage even more than two hours out, when I rocked up. But despite the throngs along Marine Drive then, the ground is still far from full now – probably because there’s chuff all to do once you get in, with absolutely no lawns, deckchairs, Veuve Clicquot lounges, or comfortable hang-out areas of any sort. People know that and are therefore planning a late rush to their seats.
“It’s blowing an absolute gale in Mumbai today, which may affect high catches later, though it didn’t seem to impact Surya’s extraordinarily high coin toss.”
SKY-high! Thank you, Simon.
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Niggly does it
“T20 is a fickle game,” says Brook, “but we’ve had some niggly wins and hopefully we can scrape through.” He confirms that England are just making one change, with Jamie Overton replacing Rehan Ahmed, who made a very good Cinderella.
Suryakumar Yadav, sounding immensely relaxed, says he’s not changing a winning team.
Toss: England win and bowl
Time for the toss, and Ravi Shastri presents it like a boxing promoter. Brook calls heads, heads it is, and he opts to chase.
'Wagon wheels and whatnot'
Pre-match reading: Simon Burnton’s preview from Mumbai. It contains the best line ever to pop out of Harry Brook’s mouth.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to the biggest thing since the Ashes. After a largely wretched winter, England have somehow made their way to a World Cup semi-final. They are now David, up against Goliath: the world’s best T20 team, on their home turf. But India have looked vulnerable at times in this tournament and England have kept finding a way to win, mostly by luring the opposition into a false sense of security and then relying on Will Jacks to bail them out. Being the underdogs should suit them nicely.
It’s the third time in a row that these two sides have met in the semi-final of a T20 World Cup. England won the first with the greatest of ease before India took all too predictable revenge in the second. This one is harder to call. India bring more firepower, especially now that Sanju Samson has come to the party. They have Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s most lethal fast bowler, and spinners to spare.
England are a mess at the top of the order, where Phil Salt has mostly faltered and poor Jos Buttler has gone from a superstar to a walking wicket, a lost soul who has forgotten how to hit a four (good luck finding your form while facing Bumrah). But Harry Brook still has a few aces – the red-hot Jacks, the crafty Sam Curran, the ageless Adil Rashid and the rapid Jofra Archer, not to mention Brook’s own big-hitting.
My considered opinion is that anything can happen.
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