England’s T20 World Cup semi-final victory over India marks the high point of an already glittering white-ball era, writes Ben Gardner.

Breathe it in, England fans, because that really did happen.

Remember about 10 overs into the India innings, when things were actually kind of tense? And then Adil Rashid got Suryakumar Yadav and everyone let out a sigh, though of relief or disappointment depended on your affiliation.

And then remember at the halfway stage, when Hardik Pandya had finally come to the party, Rishabh Pant had his thumb up, and India had the momentum? Within eight balls, containing four Jos Buttler boundaries, all of that dissipated. Everything India tried, England had an answer to. And Pandya apart, all of England’s plans came off. This was supposed to be a match fraught with danger and intrigue, the world’s two best sides engaged in four hours of cut and thrust, play and counterplay. Instead, Rohit Sharma and Co. were swatted aside with ease.

This, as you will no doubt have heard, is a special era for England in white-ball cricket, and this is a fitting moment to revisit some of the highest highs, because this was the scene of the lowest low. It was at the Adelaide Oval in 2015 that Bangladesh suckerpunched England, the defining image of the World Cup-ending defeat being Buttler, shellshocked, wandering around the boundary, still in his pads, a man who had lost it all. He has been at the heart of everything good since then, smashing England’s three fastest ODI hundreds, playing – with respect to Ben Stokes – the best innings of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final, and effecting, with rarely mentioned aplomb, the run out that stole it by the barest of margins.

He has been groomed as Eoin Morgan’s successor for half a decade, and here he delivered his finest performance as England captain, sneaking through an over here, targeting a weakness there. With the bat, he and Alex Hales dovetailed wonderfully, the latter taking charge after the former’s fast start before handing back the reins. Buttler then confirmed England’s dominance by targeting the long straight boundaries, an expanse of turf that could have defined the contest cleared as if he were an over-eager uncle launching over a back-garden hedge.

Even amidst this era of plunder and pedigree, the Adelaide Annihilation stands as England’s high water-mark. The obvious comparison is to the 2019 Cricket World Cup semi-final, in which Australia, like India, started poorly before recovering to post a total they felt they could defend, only to be obliterated in a ferocious flurry. But in that game, England were favourites, despite their stumbles in the tournament to that point. And they had their first-choice team, honed over four meticulous years, rather than the patchwork oddity that was cobbled together against India, a side that has never played together before and might never again, and that still only needed two batters to do the work.

England’s depth has been a key facet of their dominance, allowing them to negotiate the pitfalls of a global pandemic and an ever-encroaching schedule. It’s also what gives hope that this isn’t just a mere golden generation, that a sustainable production line can avoid repeating the nadir of the Nineties forevermore.

But there is also a gluttonous element to it, a need among England fans to know that it’s not just that the XI on the pitch that can beat their opponents, but that the next XI would too. This tournament has been a test case, with England now missing all of Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, Reece Topley and Jofra Archer through injury. Add in Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy, and that’s seven players who, if you had been asked to name England’s first-choice, everyone-fit XI eight months ago that would have made the cut.

Thirty years ago, England’s other notable limited-overs era was denied greatness by defeat in the final to Pakistan at the MCG. They had made the final three times, the semis twice, but had never come away with the main prize. Now they face Pakistan at the same venue again with the chance to be the first men’s Unified White-Ball World Champions. Victory would place England alongside West Indies in the 1970s and Australia in the 2000s as the game’s premier limited-overs sides. When it comes time to look back and bask in just how good England were, November 10, 2022 at the Adelaide Oval might just sit top of the pile.

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