ADELAIDE    -   Alex Hales and Jos Buttler put on an unbeaten stand of 170 to help England defeat India by 10 wickets in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Thursday. The England opening duo put on a stellar show in Adelaide as they went on the charge against the Indian bowlers right from the beginning of their innings. It was Hales, who smashed the Indian bowlers earlier in the innings as Buttler played the second fiddle. But the English skipper joined the party in the second half of the innings, as soon as England got a firm grip on the match. Their partnership helped England in chasing down 169 with all 10 wickets and 24 balls to spare. Hales remained unbeaten on 86 from just 47 deliveries while Buttler scored 80* from 49 deliveries. Earlier, India had a difficult start to their innings as they lost the wicket of KL Rahul early. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma tried to build a partnership but some really tight bowling by the England bowlers didn’t allow them to score at a swift rate. Rohit departed for 27 from 28 deliveries in the ninth over of the innings, whereas Suryakumar Yadav also perished soon for 14. But Kohli and Pandya stuck around and took the game deep. Kohli got dismissed just after scoring his fifty in the 18th over. But Pandya carried on and went on an onslaught to take India to a competitive score of 168/6 in their 20 overs. Pandya’s efforts helped India in adding 68 runs in the last five overs, 54 of which came from Pandya’s bat. England’s massive win against India has helped them in setting up a T20 World Cup final clash against Pakistan. Both teams finished second from their respective groups in the Super 12s and their chances of securing a semifinal spot at one stage looked very unlikely. But both sides made a terrific comeback not only to reach the semifinals but also to go all the way to the finals. The two teams last met in a World Cup final in 1992, which was won by Pakistan. England will be looking to set the record straight now by lifting the trophy at the iconic MCG in Melbourne. Fast bowler Mark Wood (hip) and key batter Dawid Malan (groin) were ruled out prior to the toss, with veteran seamer Chris Jordan and top-order batter Phil Salt named as their replacements. The loss of Wood in particular was a blow to England, with the pacer already having picked up nine wickets at the T20 World Cup and regularly hit speeds in excess of 150 km/h.

SCORES IN BRIEF

ENGLAND 170 for 0 (Hales 86*,
Buttler 80*) beat INDIA 168 for 6
(Hardik 63, Kohli 50, Jordan 3-43)
by 10 wickets