The dark days of rain and semi-final no longer haunted India as Rohit Sharma and Co. steamrolled England in the second semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Providence Stadium, Guyana. Batting first, a captain’s fifty and Suryakumar Yadav’s assisting 47 helped India stockpile 171 runs despite losing a rain-delayed toss.
With the ball in hand, Axar Patel outclassed the English top order inside the powerplay with a decent assist from Jasprit Bumrah. The introduction of Kuldeep Yadav further added to the England’s woes as they were bundled for paltry 103 in the end. The Complete Scorecard.
Let us quickly look at the five match-defining moments from the encounter. 
The new ball scare
Losing an opener to a left-hander bowler has never been a rosy thing in Indian cricket in knockout matches since the last ten years. Virat Kohli fell prey to Reece Topley’s Jaffa as a back of a length delivery jagged back in to beat the inside edge of Kohli and rattle the top of the leg stump in the second over.
Initially, Kohli took five balls to get off the mark and looked like a fish out of water against the new ball. Despite hitting a six, he was left furious after an extension of his lean patch.
With the ball keeping low and odd ball skidding off the surface, batting in these conditions became extremely tough. However, Rohit Sharma found his flow with the bat but fell short off assistance inside the powerplay as Rishab Pant fell cheaply off Sam Curran in the sixth over to sum up a 46-run powerplay.
Rohit-Surya partnership
On a tricky surface like this, any team would have liked to add a big partnership that could have a big say in the outcome of the game. Rohit and Surya just did the same. However, it wasn’t easy peasy for the Mumbai Indians duo as the English spinners kept things tight after a rain intervention caused 77 minutes (approximately) delay.
The pair battled against all odds with the Indian skipper notching up a 36-ball half-century, his back-to-back fifties in the tournament. Surya released pressure off Rohit by extracting periodic boundaries as the pair orchestrated a 73-run third wicket stand before Rashid cleaned up Rohit for 57. One of the other highlights from the partnership was a 19-run over dug out from Sam Curran’s second over.
Second innings powerplay
When Jos Buttler started looking in good shape against the new ball, the Indian dugout and fans didn’t quite look pleased. Somewhere down the line, the T20 World Cup 2022 ghosts flash backed halfway through the powerplay. But the Indian captain was quick to realise the nature of the strip and introduced Axar Patel in the attack in the fourth over. The left-arm spinner outsmarted Buttler for 23 in the fourth over, thus offering India with the first breakthrough in the match.
Soon, Jasprit Bumrah changed ends and returned for his second over to clean up Phil Salt with an off-cutter in the next over. Jonny Bairstow followed suit in the immediate next over as an Axar arm ball kept low to gatecrash into the stumps, leaving England troubled at 39/3 in six overs.
The Kuldeep show
Kuldeep Yadav has been one of India’s top bowlers in the middle overs. He proved to be super effective once again as the likes of Harry Brook found it difficult to pick his variations. Sam Curran and Chris Jordan too, failed to pick his variations, getting trapped plumb in front. The left-arm wrist spinner backed India’s terrific start with superb control, ending with figures of 3/19 in four overs.
The final nails in the coffin
England’s World Cup campaign ended horribly as they were bundled for 103. But it could be some run outs and lack of communication and clarity that may haunt them for quite some time now. Liam Livingstone, a well recognised batter fell prey to a mix-up where Jofra Archer refused to sacrifice his wicket, leaving the former distressed. The pair seemed to be England’s last reliable one, albeit the equation was way too improbable for England to nail then.
Livingstone was seen to cross halfway through the pitch as a ball travelled to short fine leg off Archer. However, the Barbados-bred lately realised that there wasn’t a single and indirectly helped India to get away with a runout opportunity. Soon after, Suryakumar Yadav made a scintillating whippy throw at the stumps that caught Adil Rashid short of the crease, leading to the ninth wicket in the second innings.
