Adelaide: England demolished the Indian bowling lineup as they romped to victory and set up a rerun of the 1992 World Cup against Pakistan on Sunday.
Chasing a formidable total of 169, England skipper Jos Buttler and Alex Hales started like a house on fire as the Three Lions reached 63 runs in the first 6 overs. In contrast to that, India had trudged to 38/1 in their own powerplay.
Earlier, Virat Kohli (50) and Hardik Pandya (63) hit contrasting half-centuries as India recovered from a wobbly start to post a decent 168 for five against England in the second T20 World Cup semi-final here on Thursday.
Put in to bat, India had a slow start and lost opener KL Rahul (5) early but Kohli held the innings together to slam his fourth fifty of the tournament.
But it was Pandya who propped up India’s total from 100 for 3 as he blazed his way to a 29-ball fifty with two boundaries and one six in a row off Sam Curran.
In the last four overs, India scored 58 runs, courtesy four fours and five astonishing sixes from Pandya with a drop-dead gorgeous flick behind the square off Chris Jordan (3/43) being the stand-out one.
Had it not been for the sixes that Hardik hit off Sam Curran (0/42) and Jordan, India would have ended with a below-par score as Kohli, despite his fourth half-century, couldn’t up the ante.
For England, Chris Jordan returned with 3 for 43.
