England Win 170 for 0 (Halse 86*, Butler 80*) India 168 for 6 (Hardik 63, Kohli 50, Jordan 3-43) in 10 wickets
For all the game-breaking English talents, this win that led them to the 2022 T20 World Cup Men’s Final was all about doing the basics right.
They guarded the short square border in Adelaide, only giving sixty to the onset of death.
They saw an opportunity to break the 169th chase opening in powerplay, when the ball was coming in well under the spotlight, and they grabbed it. Ten limits in the first six increments. And second highest score against India in T20I while field restrictions were on.
One horrific night drenched in rain in MCGEngland played the way they swore they would never do it. Then the captain came out and said, “Let it hurt you.”
The pain is powerful, but as much as it bothers you, it brings clarity. In that it forces people to do everything they can to never feel it again. This is what happened.
Since that defeat to Ireland, where they’ve been guessing themselves, England has fought hard and pushed hard. Hals’ choice was one of absolute clarity. He came with solid experience in Australian conditions. They needed that experience. Butler made the call. Now here’s the reward.
Hals equaled India’s tally of six players himself – seven – bringing the bowlers to ruins. He even supported himself to clear the huge 88-meter-high Adelaide border.
When all was said and done and he was taking the Man of the Match award, he looked straight into the camera and said, “I never thought I’d be in the World Cup again.”
Few of India’s fans should go, “If only…”
He must have known this because the first ball he shot out of his fold, bent on nullifying the Indian ball’s greatest strength. swing.
These were the kinds of moves Butler was making all night as he finished the match at 80 of 49.
He loaded Adil Rashid up front against the India Heavyweight Right Team. The swivel tool was taken from Suryakumar Yadav.
He reaffirmed Chris Jordan’s faith in his birthright. One of those who knocked Virat Kohli off his feet.
Butler was at the heart of a lot of good stuff – but most of it probably goes back to the drawing board.
Butler supported Rasheed to pull off this heist, and this was even after the footballer was penalized for an initial boundary ball, all because he dared throw it.
Suryakumar is the man India looks to for speeding through the middle and dying. With his passing on 14 out of 10, the game has changed.
There was only one stage of play that England lost in this match. That was when Hardik Pandya Decided enough was enough.
He was 13 years old from 15 at the start of the 17th. India was 110 to 3. They tried to disrupt England.
Rohit Sharma hit one of the night’s shots – one bouncing four times on extra cover from near Jordan Yorker – but dropped three balls later.
Suryakumar surrendered after hitting Ben Stokes for six and four.
All this prompted Kohli to go into anchor mode, which means the other guy must be big.
And Hardik did. The helicopter took out the fire towards Jordan. Yorker took it wide for four short seconds of Sam Curran. Hit short balls all over the park.
India has hit 58 runs in the last four rounds. Fifty of them got off Hardick’s racket. This was his scoring sequence from day eighteen: 6, 6, point, 1, 1, 4, 6, 4, 1, 6, 4, out (after stepping on his stumps while hitting the ball for what could have been four more). Five of those 12 balls were trying to do that. Many of them landed near the perfect spot. But Hardek is standing so deep in his folds and so much in his wrists that they become goal-scoring opportunities.
From looking like they would be lucky to get to 140, India had 168. India had hope.
Then nothing. Or maybe it’s even worse because there will now be questions about how they played their first 10 (62 vs. 2 with only seven limits) against a team full of hits.
England chasing history
They invented the game. They hosted each of the first three World Cup tournaments. They absolutely loved cricket. And there were some beautiful moments.
England + cricket = broken heart emoji
Now they want “I love you more”. Maybe even “I love you more”. Because England, through all the ups and downs and tragic comedy, are now just one win away from being the first men’s team in history to host both World Cups at the same time.
It took a lot of effort to get here. In fact, a complete reconnection of DNA. Seriously, if you took one of Butler’s cells and put it under a microscope, you’d only see a scoop on a thin stalk for six.
Alagappan Muthu is sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
