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England all-rounder Jacob Bethell continued to prove his mettle at big stages with a scintillating, lone warrior century against India in a hard-fought semifinal at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, which the Three Lions lost by seven runs. He also became the fourth all-format centurion for England in international cricket.
Almost a couple of months after a similar lone warrior knock of 154 at Sydney Cricket Ground in the final Ashes Test against Australia in his side's bid to earn their second win in Australia on the trot and go back home with a respectable margin of 3-2, Bethell stood up for England during another tense situation which could have made even the veterans sweat and fall to scoreboard pressure. But despite being reduced to 95/4, Bethell did not relent, brutally tonking spin and pace alike, treating spinner Varun Chakravarthy with absolute disdain. His knock of 105 in just 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes, kept England in the hunt throughout the contest, but a run out by Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in the final over ended his knock while he needed to hunt down 30 in six balls. Bethell, who slammed his maiden international century against South Africa in an ODI back in September last year, has now joined Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Harry Brook as England's fourth all-format centurion in international men's cricket. This is also the second fastest century in T20 World Cup history, in 45 balls. The fastest one was hit by New Zealand's Finn Allen, a mind-blowing 33-ball ton against South Africa in the first semifinal, which powered the Kiwis to the final. Bethell is the second player to hit a century in T20WC knockouts and holds the highest score in ICC T20WC knockouts In the ongoing T20 World Cup, Bethell has scored 280 runs in eight innings at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 152.17, with a century and a half-century to his name. In 31 T20Is and 29 innings, he has made 697 runs at an average of 29.04, with a strike rate of almost 150 with a century and three fifties. In 58 international matches so far, he has made 1,776 runs at an average of 33.50, with three centuries and 11 fifties in 60 innings and a best score of 154. Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs. Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket. Bethell continued to march on even after Jacks' dismissal and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, but not to the finishing line, ending at 246/7. (ANI)
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