A semi-final that had everyone on the edge of their seats throughout as the balance kept shifting from one side to the other. Again, it was a match that exposed the gaps in India ahead of the all-important title clash against New Zealand. Asked to chase down a monumental 254, England ensured that every Indian fan had their hearts in their mouths as they agonizingly approached the finish line.
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IND vs ENG T20 WORLD CUP 2026: MAIN | SCORECARD
Jacob Bethell’s herculean effort (105 off 48) took his team to the top of a historic chase, but England ended up losing by seven runs. they finished on 246/7 in their 20 overs. There were many question marks after the match, with captain Suryakumar Yadav visibly feeling the heat of a World Cup semi-final in front of a packed crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.
The contest turned into a complete slogfest as Varun Chakravarthy (1/64 in 4 overs), Arshdeep Singh (1/51 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (1/35 in 3 overs) and Shivam Dube (0/22 in 1 over) were taken to the cleaners. While the men in blue should have been ringing alarm bells, the team’s collective spirit never seemed to waver.
It started right from the moment India was beaten by England, with the team gathered around Sanju Samson, who was at his best against English bowlers. While Samson topped the scoring charts with an aggressive 89 off 42 balls, the likes of Ishan Kishan (39 off 18), Shivam Dube (43 off 25), Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) and Tilak Varma (21 off 7) played crucial colossuses around him to guide India to 2.7.
At no point did any batsman look eager for personal milestones. Samson continued to find big hits well into his forties and stayed on the air route well into his eighties, which eventually led to his recall. The collective mindset was evident as the Men in Blue continued to focus on pushing for overall team rather than individual glory.
FEEDING OFF EACH OTHER’S STRENGTHS
With the ball, while not everyone had a great day, the players consistently stood up for each other and guided teammates through difficult spells. On a night where Varun Chakravarthy had one of the toughest outings of his career, he had the support of his teammates around him to help calm his nerves amid England’s relentless onslaught.
In his third over, Sanju Samson even emerged from behind the stumps to guide it to an ideal length to reach Jacob Bethell, who set out to spoil the Indian party. The players rallied around Varun as he started leaking runs (Courtesy: AP)
on the field Axar Patel excelled with the safest pair of hands India entered the semi-finals with sub-par catching efficiency. On a night when the ball rolled over the fence with ease, Patel too felt magnetically drawn as he put on a spectacular show in the field.
He completed two catches but the most crucial contribution came in the 14th over when he took a stunning catch on the deep point boundary to help dismiss Will Jacks for 35 off 20. Patel sprinted to his left to finish off a brilliant effort with both hands to prevent the ball from going past the boundary, and just before it crossed the rope he chipped it to Shivam Dube.
MORE PLAYERS OF THE MATCH CANDIDATES
Apart from Patel, Hardik Pandya’s bullet from the boundary in the final over resulted in the run-out of the dangerous Jacob Bethell. Earlier, Pandya bowled the penultimate over conceding just nine runs, which complemented Jasprit Bumrah’s excellent spell of 1/33 in four overs, who looked to be playing on a completely different pitch.
Pandya had earlier broken the 50-run stand between Sam Curran (18 off 14) and Bethell by forcing the former to hole out at deep mid-wicket.
Overall, it was a collective team effort, with players constantly sticking up for each other and stepping up their game in crucial moments to support their teammates.
India’s collective team effort also drew praise from former wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who hailed the team’s commitment on the field after some sloppy performances during the Super 8 stage.
“What I saw in India today was the epitome of what they stand for – to keep fighting under pressure, but mainly to correct one of the biggest mistakes they showed in this World Cup. They were the poorest player in the field and today they came out and stood as a team that really wanted to win,” Karthik said on Sky Sports.
He also praised Axar Patel’s huge impact on the game with his three catches and said that few would have complained if he had won the Man of the Match award.
“That approach is what I liked the most. They stuck to their catches and it was fantastic towards the end as well. You could almost give Axar man of the match for the way he stood and nobody would complain. Some of those catches were just out of this world,” he added.
A CAMPAIGN FULL OF MULTIPLE MATCH WINNERS
Karthik’s thoughts were echoed by Sanju Samson during the presentation ceremony. When receiving the Man of the Match award, Samson acknowledged Jasprit Bumrah’s contributionhe said the fast bowler deserved the honor more than him.
“All credit to Jasprit Bumrah – a world class bowler, a once in a generation talent. I think that’s what he showed today. This award should go to him. If we didn’t bowl like that in the death overs, I wouldn’t be standing here. All credit to the bowlers for supporting themselves in such tough conditions,” Samson said.
A look at India’s Player of the Match winners in the tournament so far will give a good account of how the team has not relied on one man to bail them out and different players have stepped up at different stages to bail the team out. Samson said Bumrah deserved to be man of the match against England (Courtesy: AP)
India T20 World Cup 2026 Man of the Match award winners:
IND vs USA – Suryakumar Yadav
IND vs NAM – Hardik Pandya
IND vs PAK – Ishan Kishan
IND vs NED – Shivam Dube
IND vs ZIM – Hardik Pandya
IND vs WI – Sanju Samson
IND vs ENG – Sanju Samson
INDIA GOES INTO THE FINAL BOTH WITH CONVICTION AND LESSONS LEARNED
Just one step away from achieving unprecedented glory, the Indian spirit could never have come to the fore at a better time. The men in blue are on the verge of becoming the only team to successfully defend their T20 World Cup crown and win the tournament on home soil.
The semi-final reinforced one of India’s biggest strengths in this tournament, their ability to respond collectively when the pressure is on. Whether it was the fearless batting approach, Axar Patel’s brilliance on the field or the composure in the closing overs, various players stepped up when the team needed them the most.
With the trophy now within reach, India head into the final with both belief and lessons learned from the nerve-wracking semi-final. If the Men in Blue can combine their explosive bat with sharper execution with the ball, their illustrious trophy cabinet is likely to see another addition in a few days.
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Published on:
March 6, 2026 11:41 AM IST
