NEW DELHI: India stormed into the
T20 World Cup final
with a thumping 68-run win over the defending champions England in the second semifinal in Guyana on Thursday.
England suffered a batting collapse while pursuing a target of 172 runs, ultimately being dismissed for a mere 103. The spin duo of
Axar Patel
and
Kuldeep Yadav
proved to be the architects of England's downfall, with each of them claiming three wickets.
Axar, who returned figures of 3/23 after contributing crucial 10 runs with the bat in the death, rattled England's chase with quick wickets of
Jos Buttler
, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow.
After being awarded Player of the match, Axar mentioned that he has prior experience bowling during the powerplay overs. He focused on delivering the ball in the optimal areas of the pitch to maximize his effectiveness.
"I have bowled in the powerplay in the past, so I had to bowl in the powerplay, that was the plan. The wicket was stopping and keeping low, so tried to bowl in the right areas. The wicket was slow, so I tried to bowl slower in this match, it worked for me. Wouldn't have worked had I bowled quicker, would have been easier for their batters," Axar said.
India will face South Africa in the final scheduled to be played on Saturday in Barbados. South Africa overwhelmed Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final to book their maiden place in the World Cup final.
Axar made it clear he is not thinking about the final at the moment and will cherish his Player of the Match award for now.
"Our batters told us that the wicket wasn't easy, so 160 was a good total according to us. That partnership (between Rohit and SKY) was magnificent, they scored the occasional boundaries and rotated the strike. Not thinking about Barbados at the moment, will celebrate this player of the match award first," he added.
English (US) ·