India, SA to meet in T20 World Cup final

PROVIDENCE, Guyana (AP):

India thumped defending champions England by 68 runs yesterday to reach the final of the Twenty20 World Cup.

India will face South Africa (SA) tomorrow at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, in a battle of the two unbeaten teams of the tournament.

Captain Rohit Sharma's (57) second half-century helped India compile 171 for seven and Suryakumar Yadav also blunted the England pace and spin with a vital knock of 47 off 36 balls after more than two hours of the second semi-final was lost because of rain and a wet outfield.

Spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav then combined for six for 42 through some sharp turners as England got bowled out for 103 in 16.3 overs on a skiddy, low pitch devoid of grass, to bow out of the tournament.

"If bowlers and batters adapt, things fall in place," a beaming Sharma said. "Axar and Kuldeep are gun spinners. (It was) tough to play shots against them in these conditions (and) they were calm under pressure."

Captain Jos Buttler smashed four boundaries in his 23 off 15 balls but, once he top-edged reverse sweep off left-arm spinner Patel's first ball inside the power play and lobbed a simplest of catches to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, England kept on losing wickets with regular intervals.

England had collapsed to 88 for nine when Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid both got run out, but Jofra Archer hit 21 off 15 balls before Jasprit Bumrah (2-12) finished off England by having Archer leg before wicket.

The win was sweet revenge for India, who got hammered by England by 10 wickets in the 2022 World Cup semi-final at Adelaide, Australia.

"India outplayed us," Buttler said. "We let them get 20-25 runs too many on a challenging surface ... they had an above-par total and it was always a tough chase."

Earlier, Sharma and Yadav combined in a 73-run third-wicket stand on a wicket where batters struggled to negotiate the variable bounce of pace and spin.

Sharma continued his sublime form in the tournament on difficult pitches and countercharged on yet another tough wicket for batters before heavy rain took the players off the field for another 73 minutes when India had reached 65-2 after eight overs.

First semi-final (Wednesday night): South Africa beat Afghanistan by nine wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.

Scores: Afghanistan 56 all out off 11.5 overs (Tabraiz Shamsi three for six, Marco Jansen three for 16, Antich Nortje two for seven).

South Africa 60 for one off 8.5 overs (Reeza Hendricks 29 not out, Aiden Markram 23 not out).