India flaunted their superabundance of talent in a display of absolute dominance to storm into the final of the T20 World Cup with a 68-run shellacking of England in their semi-final here on Thursday.

Leading the charge once again was their inspirational skipper Rohit Sharma, who laid the foundation with an aggressive 57 off 39 balls, and the captain was well-supported by Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 36), as India posted 171 for seven after being asked to bat first in the rain-hit match.

In reply, England were bowled out for 103 in 16.4 overs as India set up a title clash with first-timers South Africa in Barbados on Saturday. This is India’s third entry into the final of the tournament.

Hardik Pandya chipped in with a 13-ball 23, striking two sixes at a crucial juncture to prop up India.

On a slow, holding pitch with low bounce, left-arm Axar Patel (3/23) helped India tightened their grip on the match with his brilliant bowling, while his slow-bowling colleague Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) caused the damage in the middle overs.

The Indian team thus exacted revenge for the crushing 10-wicket loss it endured against the defending champions in the 2022 semifinal of the mega-event at the Adelaide Oval.

In the process, Rohit became the first Indian captain to lead the country in three ICC global finals in a space of 12 months — 2023 World Test Championship, 2023 ODI World Cup and now the T20 World Cup.

Considering India’s all-round bowling attack and nature of the surface, Rohit’s men were expected to defend the total and they did that rather comfortably.

His decision to use Axar in the powerplay proved to be a masterstroke as the left-arm spinner struck twice in quick succession, from which England could not recover.

Wrist spinner Kuldeep also played his part to perfection on a pitch that suited the spinners all through the competition.

Jos Buttler (23 off 15), Harry Brook (25 off 19) and Jofra Archer (21 off 15) were the only England batters to reach double figures, summing up India’s dominance in the game. Both Buttler and Brook fell while attempting the reverse sweep against Axar and Kuldeep respectively.

“We adapted to the conditions really well. It was a challenge and we adapted. We played the conditions really well,” Rohit said after the match.

India, who are yet to lose a game in the tournament, will be hoping that their star batter Virat Kohli finds run in the all-important title clash. Kohli (9 off 9) perished early once again on Thursday, trying to force the pace.

The keenly awaited fixture was impacted by intermittent rain with the start of play being delayed by one hour and 15 minutes. Another long halt came when India were 65 for two in eight overs.

As many as 250 additional minutes were allotted to the game but there was no reserve day.

Soon after Kohli and Rohit came out to bat after England put the opposition in, it became clear the surface was on the slower side and low bounce made the task trickier for the batters.

While Kohli fell early, Rohit adapted to the conditions much better and decided to play the ball late and behind the stumps. One example of that was the guide over backward point off Archer in the second over when the ball went through Phil Salt’s hands to reach the boundary. Setting the benchmark for other batters, Rohit then collected back-to-back fours in Topley’s third over before applying pressure on England’s premier spinner Adil Rashid after India reached 46 for two in the powerplay.

Rishabh Pant (4) was the second batter to be dismissed as he mistimed a flick to be caught at midwicket off Sam Curran.

Then came the engrossing match-up between Rohit and Rashid where the Indian captain employed the reverse and conventional sweep to collect two fours from the leg-spinner’s opening over.

Suryakumar was batting on 13 alongside Rohit when rain returned at the Providence Stadium, forcing the game to be paused for more than an hour.

The weather played spoilsport two balls after Suryakumar got inside the line to pick Jordan over fine leg for a maximum.

England used the leg-spin of Rashid and Liam Livingstone from both ends after the forced break but they could not stifle Rohit and Suryakumar.

A full toss from Rashid was duly dispatched over short fine leg for four, the first of many boundaries that India accumulated in the middle overs.

The 13th over from Curran yielded 19 runs for India with Suryakumar smashing a couple of sixes and Rohit played a pick-up shot for a maximum that also brought up his second successive fifty.

The entertaining 73-run ended when Rohit was beaten by a googly from Rashid while attempting a slog.

Following Curran’s bumper 13th over, the next fours were quiet for India before Hardik Pandya (23 off 13) hit two flat sixes on either side of the pitch to push the innings forward.

Ravindra Jadeja (17 not out off 9), sent ahead of Shivam Dube, got two crucial fours off Archer in the penultimate over while the latter’s stay lasted only one ball.

Axar’s six off Jordan in the final over took India past 170. The team scored 53 runs in the last five overs.

Brief scores

India 171 for 7 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 57, Suryakumar Yadav 47, Hardik Pandya 23, Chris Jordan 3/37, Adil Rashid 1/25, Jofra Archer 1/33, Reece Topley 1/25, Sam Curran 1/25) England 103 in 16.4 overs (Axar Patel 3/23, Kuldeep Yadav 3/19, Jasprit Bumrah 2/12).

Australia’s Mitch Marsh.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

Mitch Marsh will captain Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup next month, leading a national cricket squad that is missing ex-skipper Steve Smith and up-and-coming batter Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Marsh, who is recovering from an injured hamstring, was confirmed as T20 captain on Wednesday after sharing the duties on an interim basis since the retirement last year of Aaron Finch.

Smith’s omission for the tournament starting June 1 in the United States and Caribbean means it’ll be the first time since 2012 he’s missed a World Cup in the limited-overs formats.

The 34-year-old Smith has signed for the Washington Freedom for the second season of Major League Cricket in the United States which starts July 4, four days after the T20 World Cup concludes.

Fraser-McGurk surged into selection calculations on the back of his 233.33 strike rate in the Indian Premier League, but it wasn’t enough to replace Travis Head or the veteran David Warner at the global tournament.

Allrounder Marsh will likely bat at No. 3 and Glenn Maxwell at No. 4 in the lineup, with Tim David likely to fill the finisher role further down the order.

“The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent,” Australia’s chief selector George Bailey said. “Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.”

Bailey said Fraser-McGurk’s form had been “great of late.”

“But the way we’re functioning at the top of the order with the three guys we’ve had there has been really strong as well,” he said. “Ultimately, in that squad of 15, we’re looking to get that balance we want in for each game with different opponents, different venues and different surfaces.”

Matt Wade and Josh Inglis were picked as wicketkeepers and Ashton Agar returns to the squad as a second spinning option to Adam Zampa.

The regular pace bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will have support from Nathan Ellis as well as allrounders Cameron Green, Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.

Australia, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions, will open against Oman at Barbados on June 5. The Australians are the defending champions in the ICC’s World Test Championship and in the 50-over World Cup.

Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Gujarat Titans Rashid Khan trying to catch a ball during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty-20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Eight players featuring in the ongoing Indian Premier League have been named in the 15-member Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad to be led by star all-rounder Rashid Khan.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, who captained Afghanistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup, has been left out of the squad named by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Left-handed opener Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Saleem Safi have been named as travelling reserves for the marquee event to be played in the USA and the Caribbean from June 2.

Rashid, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen Ul Haq, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib are the Afghan players currently playing in the IPL.

The squad has only four batters in wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran and back-up keeper Mohammad Ishaq. But, six all-rounders have been named to make up for the lesser number of specialist batters.

Apart from Rashid, the other all-rounders are Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat and Nangeyalia Kharote.

Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Noor are the other spinners along with Rashid, Nabi, Kharote.

Right-arm fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, left-armers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad will man the pace department, along with the all-rounders.

Janat, Ishaq and Noor have been after missing the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan are in Group C in the 20-team tournament, along with New Zealand, co-hosts West Indies, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. They play their first match against Uganda on June 3 at Providence.

The squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Reserves: Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Saleem Safi.

Sanju Samson of Rajasthan Royals drives Kunal Pandya of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL match at Ekana stadium in Lucknow on Saturday .
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

The classy fifties made by Sanju Samson and KL Rahul in the IPL has intensified the race for the second wicketkeeper’s slot in the Indian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup, reckoned former South African captain Graeme Smith.

The Indian squad for the marquee event in June is set to be announced soon and Rishabh Pant is set to be drafted in as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter.

“They (Rahul and Samson) needed to build a partnership. Rahul did it with (Deepak) Hooda and Sanju did it beautifully with Dhruv Jurel. The difference was that Sanju finished the game, while KL got out at a key phase. But it was brilliant to see both excellent players put their hands up for World Cup selection,” said Smith in JioCinema.

Rahul made a 48-ball 76 for Lucknow Super Giants, but Samson trumped that effort with an unbeaten 71 off 33 balls as Rajasthan Royals cruised to a seven-wicket victory.

Former Australian pacer Brett Lee lauded Jurel for supporting Samson with a fine 52 not out off 34 balls during their unbroken fourth wicket stand that was worth 121 runs.

“He’s a quality batter. He’s got proper cricket shots. He can play all formats of the game and knows when to go through the gears as needed.

“His shots are classy and have the power to go towards the cow corner. He shows his class and continues to grow in stature,” said the New South Welshman.

The point found resonance in Smith.

“The run-chase looked easy. Dhruv Jurel and Sanju Samson had an incredible partnership to get them over the line. They had (Shimron) Hetmyer still to bat, so there was a lot in the tank, lots of match-winners with the bat and ball. That squad is looking very strong,” said Smith.