Mumbai, March 5 (IANS) Sanju Samson smashed a second successive half-century to help India post a massive total before Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya tripped a rampaging England, propelled by Jacob Bethell’s brilliant century, and guided the defending champion into the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Samson blasted a 42-ball 89 and shared vital partnerships with Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube as India posted 253/7 in their 20 overs. Jacob Bethell kept England in the hunt till the last, batting aggressively despite wickets falling from the other end to post a mesmerising 105 off 48 balls (8×4, 7×6).
England needed 45 runs from the last three overs, with Bethell and Sam Curran going great guns in the middle. Bumrah bowled a brilliant 18th over, conceding only six runs, and Pandya followed it with nine runs and a wicket to make the equation 30 off six balls. Bethell got out on the first ball of the 20th over as the stadium erupted in joy. England ended up with 246/7 in 20 overs, handing India a seven-run victory and a place in the final against New Zealand at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
India is hoping to become the first nation to defend their T20 World Cup title, and Thursday’s performance proved that it will take a special effort from New Zealand to stop them.
Chasing a target of 254 in batting conditions that had not eased up because of dew as they were expecting, England started in whirlwind fashion, storming to 68/3 in Power-play. Phil Salt (5) and Harry Brook fell early, the England skipper to a superb catch by Axar Patel off Jasprit Bumrah, who became the Indian pace spearhead’s 500th victim in international cricket.
Varun Chakravarthy castled Jos Buttler (25 off 17 balls, 4×4, 1×6) in the penultimate delivery of the sixth over as England slumped to 64/3.
Bethell continued to bat aggressively from the other end, reaching his fifty off 19 balls, hammering three fours and five sixes in a brilliant display of power-hitting. He started with a six off Bumrah, blasted a hat-trick of sixes off Varun Chakravarthy in the sixth over and struck Hardik Pandya for a six, followed by a four in the seventh over. Back-to-back boundaries off Chakravarthy in the ninth over took England past 100 runs. He blasted a four each off Bumrah, Chakravarthy and Arshdeep in the middle-overs as he raced to his fifty.
Tom Banton hammered sixes off successive balls off Axar Patel before the spinner had the last laugh as he bowled Banton for 17 off five balls as England were reduced to 95/5. But the run-scoring continued as every England batter tried to operate in the fourth gear, unmindful of the situation as they kept losing wickets.
Bethell was the only one who continued batting aggressively and for long in the middle as he added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Will Jacks, who contributed 35 runs to the score off 20 balls (4×4, 2×6). His wicket spread cheer in the capacity crowd, but India were still in a dangerous situation as England continued to be ahead of India’s score at milestone junctures. He raised vital partnerships with Will Jacks and Sam Curran, but in the end, their efforts went in vain as Bumrah and Pandya turned the tables on them.
Earlier, asked to bat first after England skipper Harry Brook won the toss, India lost Abhishek Sharma to Will Jacks with 20 runs on the board. It could have been worse for the hosts if Brook had caught an easy chance off Samson in the third over. That mistake cost England 74 runs in 39 balls as Samson played another blinder of a knock to add to the 97 not out he blasted against the West Indies to take India into the semifinals.
Samson went ballistic after that, hitting boundaries at will, treating all bowlers with disdain. Archer’s first two overs cost him 26 runs while he struck boundaries off Archer, Jacks, Sam Curran, back-to-back fours in the sixth over, Adil Rashid — starting with a four off his first delivery. After a couple of sixes off Archer, Samson blasted a six off Liam Dawson in the eighth over, followed that up with a six and a four off successive balls from Curran, Jamie Overton’s slot ball was pumped through the line for a straight six, while a slower one from Archer in his second spell was carved over the ropes at backward point.
Samson completed his fifty off 26 balls — his second successive in the competition — and raised 97 runs for the second-wicket with Ishan Kishan (39 off 18, 4×4, 2×6) — as they blasted 19 runs off Liam Dawson and 20 runs off a Sam Curran in the eighth and ninth overs. He also added 43 runs for the third-wicket partnership with Shivam Dube.
Just when it looked like he would complete his first century in the T20 World Cup, Samson was out caught by Phil Salt off Will Jacks, trying to reach out at a wide one, but only managing to play it uppishly.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav could score only 11 runs, and though Dube was going well, his runout after a mix-up with Hardik Pandya (27 off 12), who made the call and then went back on it, reduced the momentum for India. Tilak Varma struck a couple of sixes in his 7-ball 27 as the hosts managed to post a total that England will find tough to chase.
Brief scores:
India 253/7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 89, Shivam Dube 43, Ishan Kishan 39; Will Jacks 2-40, Adil Rashid 2-41) beat England 246/7 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 105, Will Jacks 35; Hardik Pandya 2-38, Jasprit Bumrah 1-33, Axar Patel 1-35) by seven runs.
–IANS
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