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After ending their ICC T20 World Cup title defence on a bitter note, England captain Jos Buttler admitted that he made a mistake in not bowling spinner Moeen Ali on a spin-dominating surface at the Providence Stadium of the semi-final against India in Guyana.
The clash between the two unbeaten sides has been set for Saturday, with India set to take on South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup after the Rohit Sharma-led side sealed a thumping 68-run win over England at Providence Stadium, Guyana. The past was washed away by the Indian spinners who bore the brunt of England's aggression. The 2022 nightmare became a long past after the Indian team avenged their 10-wicket defeat that came at the hands of England. Indian spinners - Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav - completely dominated Guyana's spin-friendly surface, bagging six wickets. For England, Moeen Ali did not bowl a single over while Adil Rashid bowled four conceding 25 runs and bagging the most prized wicket of India captain Rohit Sharma. Buttler said he should have let two spinners bowl against India, as the Men in Blue's left-arms destroyed the defending champions and left them tottering at 103. "Our two guys (Rashid and Livingstone) bowled well. In hindsight, should've bowled Moeen the way the spin was playing, with the way spinners were bowling. We are really proud of everyone's effort. We stuck together, came up short when it mattered the most," Buttler said in a post-match presentation. Coming to the match, riding on the back of Rohit's fifty and belligerent cameos fireworks at the Providence Stadium by Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja's late flourish powered India to 171/7. While chasing the target 172, the Three Lions came out roaring, looking to defend their crown, but the unbeaten Indian side was too big of a challenge for the defending champions. With England scoring at a healthy run rate of more than 8, visions of the 2022 World Cup semi-final started to slowly rise within the Indian fans. Openers Buttler and Phil Salt made a solid start, but the combination of Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah took the top order apart. At that point England were 72/7 - meaning they required 100 runs off their remaining 46 balls. It was all over for the defending champions as after Jofra Archer was given out lbw to Bumrah, having made an excellent 21 off 15 balls, ending England's innings for 103. (ANI)
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