England’s T20 World Cup title defence was abruptly halted by a ruthless India side who appear well placed to end their ICC global trophy drought.
Two years ago, India’s entire approach towards T20 cricket was called into question after they scratched around to a modest total of 168 in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, only to watch England cruise to the target without losing a wicket. Today in Guyana, they only mustered three more runs than they did that night in Adelaide but on a totally different surface it was way above par and more than enough against an England side who are surely on the cusp of embarking on a transitional phase themselves.
Where was this semi-final won and lost?
Rohit and Sky give India lift off against pace
On a slow, tacky pitch against an attack containing Jasprit Bumrah and three world-class slow bowlers, 172 was highly unlikely to be within reach.
England's spinners – the ones who were used, at least – actually bowled well. The eight overs delivered by England’s spin duo of Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid conceded 49; the 12 overs of pace brought India 120 runs, however.
Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav were brutal against England’s quicks. Sharma picked up where he left off against Australia, using his own game to articulate the philosophy of how he wanted his teammates to play. Yadav was characteristically inventive – one six in particular, over deep point off Sam Curran, was outrageous.
India were 113-3 in the 14th over when Sharma fell – on this pitch, they were miles ahead in the contest.
England fail to capitalise on conditions
In the eight overs through the middle, the only two double-figured overs were delivered by the pace of Jordan and Curran. Given how hard the other two England spinners were to get away, surely it was worth at least a look at Moeen Ali?
The thinking would have been that against two right-handers, the match-up was against the off-spin of Moeen. His finger-spin is less likely to have misbehaved off the pitch as much as the leg-breaks of Livingstone and Rashid, but given how favourable the surface was to slow bowlers, not using Moeen was a big call that backfired. Jos Buttler admitted as much after the game. And if England really are so reluctant to bowl off-spinners against right-handers, Tom Hartley’s left-arm spin would have been useful against India’s right-hand heavy top order.
Brook too low to impact the game
India were light years ahead of England in both disciplines so the exact order of England’s top five is not where this game was won or lost, but it did feel like by the time Harry Brook came to the crease, with England 35-3 in the sixth over, the game was as good as done.
Brook is England’s most complete middle-order limited-overs batter and played authoritatively after he made his entrance. He must bat higher up the order and be given every possible opportunity to impact games.
The two teams are worlds apart
India have come on leaps and bounds in T20 cricket since the 2022 tournament. They’ve tinkered with their balance, and now have ominous depth in both their batting and bowling departments. Their top six complements each other and they have different types of batters.
Their bowling attack is irresistible. Bumrah and Kuldeep are world leaders in their respective crafts, while Jadeja, Axar and Hardik are all outstanding, versatile all-rounders.
This England side is a long way off that. They look vulnerable against quality spin and short on reliable options in the middle overs with the ball, Adil Rashid aside.
With one win in four against Full Members this tournament and three in 12 against Test-playing nations over the last two limited-overs World Cups, England’s era of white-ball dominance is well and truly over.
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