India Storm into T20 World Cup Final After 10 Years; Lock Horns with First time Finalist South Africa

Guyana: India entered the final of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 after 10 years by defeating reigning champion England in the second semifinal on Thursday. They are all set to face first time finalist South Africa at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday.

Asked to bat first, India set a target of 172 for the English. Thanks to a gritty half century from captain Rohit Sharma (57 off39; 4×6, 6×2) and handy contributions from Surya Kumar Yadav (47 off 36; 4×4, 6×2), Hardik Pandya (23 off 13, 4×1, 6×2), Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 9; 4×2) and Axar Patel (10 off 6; 6×1). Star batter Virat Kolhi failed again as he could make only 9 off 9 balls with the help of one six. For England Chris Jordan scalped 3 wickets.

The English chase was hugely affected by Axar Patel (23/3) and Kuldeep Yadav (19/3) and Jasprit Bumrah (12/2), as they were folded out for 103 runs handling India a 68 run victory. For England captain Josh Butler (23 off 15; 4×4), Harry Brooks (25 off 19; 4×3) and Jofra Archer (21 off 15; 4×2, 6×1) could make some contributions while others failed miserably.

Earlier, South Africa had ended the dream run of minnows Afghanistan in the first semifinal by defeating them by 9 wickets and forced themselves into the final of T20 world dup for teh first time.