GEORGETOWN, Guyana, June 27 (Reuters) – India showcased their wealth of talent as they showed dominance to advance to the T20 World Cup final by beating England by 68 runs in the semi-final here on Thursday.

The attack was once again led by their inspiring captain Rohit Sharma, who laid the foundation with 57 off 39 balls, and the captain was well supported by Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 36), as India posted 171 off seven balls after being called. The bats went first in a rain-hit match.

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In reply, England were bowled out for 103 in 16.4 overs as India prepared to face South Africa for the first time in Barbados on Saturday. This is the third time India have reached the final of the tournament.

Hardik Pandya scored 23 off 13 balls, scoring two goals at a crucial stage in India's favour.

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In a match characterized by slow pitches and weak bounces, left-arm pacer Axar Patel (3/23) helped India tighten their grip on the game with his brilliant bowling, while another slow bowler, Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) did some damage. the middle.

With this, Team India avenged the crushing 10-wicket defeat they suffered against the defending champions in the semi-final of the 2022 mega-event at the Adelaide Oval.

In doing so, Rohit became the first Indian captain to lead the country in three ICC World Cups in a span of 12 months – the 2023 World Test Championship, the 2023 ODI World Cup and now the T20 World Cup.

Given India's well-balanced bowling attack and the nature of the surface, Rohit's men were expected to defend their total and they did so quite comfortably.

His decision to use Axar in the Powerplay proved to be a masterstroke as he hit the left-arm spinner twice in a row, from which England could not recover.

Wrist bowler Kuldeep also played his role perfectly in the field, which suited the players throughout the competition.

Jos Buttler (23 off 15) and Harry Brook (25 off 19) were the only England batsmen to reach double figures, summing up India's dominance of the match. Both batsmen fell trying to counter-attack Axar and Kuldeep.

India, who have never lost a single match in the tournament, will be hoping that their star striker Virat Kohli can shine in this important title match. Kohli (9 off 9) was caught out again on Thursday, trying to dictate the pace.

This highly anticipated match was disrupted by intermittent rain, with the start delayed by an hour and a half. Then play was stopped for a long time when India scored 65 for two in eight overs.

Up to 250 additional minutes are allocated to matches but there are no reserve days.

As soon as Kohli and Rohit came out to bat after England had fielded the opposition, it became clear that the surface was slower and the low bounce made it more difficult for the batsmen.

While Kohli fell early, Rohit adapted better to the conditions and decided to bowl late and behind the stumps. An example of this is the run scored by Archer in the second over when the ball went through Phil Salt's hands and hit the boundary.

Having set a benchmark for the rest of the batsmen, Rohit picked up four consecutive fours in Toby's third over before putting pressure on England star Adil Rashid after India reached 46 for two in the powerplay.

Rishabh Pant (4) was the second batsman to be dismissed after missing a catch at mid-wicket against Sam Curran.

Next came an entertaining match between Rohit and Rashid as the Indian skipper used reverse and traditional deliveries to pick up two fours from the leg-spinner.

Suryakumar was hitting 13 with Rohit when rain returned to Providence Stadium, temporarily halting play for over an hour.

The weather deteriorated after Suryakumar came to the line to pick Jordan off his right foot to get the most out of him.

England used the strength of Rashid and Liam Livingstone on both ends after the break of strength but could not stop Rohit and Suryakumar.

A full toss from Rashid came courtesy of short leg for four, the first of many boundaries India piled up at mid-off.

Curran's 13th over produced 19 runs for India as Suryakumar hit a couple of sixes and Rohit played a maximum wicket haul which also generated fifty consecutive runs.

The entertaining 73-run match ended when Rohit was bowled out by Rashid while trying to land a powerful blow.

After Curran's brilliant knock in the 13th over, the next four overs were quiet for India before Hardik Pandya (23 off 13) hit two sixes at either end of the pitch to take the match forward.

Ravindra Jadeja (17 not out for 9), serving Shivam Dubey, got two crucial fours against Archer in the penultimate over as the latter lasted just one ball.

Axar scored six goals against Jordan in the final to take India past 170 points. The team scored 53 points in the last five rounds.

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