T20 WC: Team India survive Bethell scare, book title clash against NZ following nail-biting 7-run win at Wankhede

MUMBAI: A stunning counter-attacking century from Jacob Bethell went in vain as Team India beat a valiant England by seven runs in a nail-biting semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, booking India’s spot in the title clash against New Zealand at Ahmedabad, scheduled for Sunday.

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.

A #T20WorldCup classic in Mumbai as India beat England in a nail-biter to reach the Final

: https://t.co/w7G9C2FaMw pic.twitter.com/kazCgeeHDs

— ICC (@ICC) March 5, 2026

During a run-chase of 255 runs, opening pair of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler started off with three fours against Arshdeep Singh in the first over, with Buttler as the aggressor. However, in the next over, Hardik Pandya made up for it, with the ball catching the thick outside edge of Salt’s bat and landing into the hands of Axar Patel at cover point. The openers’ struggles continued as he made just five in three balls. India was 13/1 in 1.1 overs.

Following his wicket, Buttler collected two fours against Arshdeep in the third over, while he and skipper Harry Brook also attacked Hardik Pandya. However, a slower ball from Jasprit Bumrah ended the partnership, forcing Brook to commit to his shot early and was caught by Axar at cover for a six-ball seven. England was 38/2 in 4.1 overs, and Bumrah collected his 500th international wicket.

Despite England’s troubles, including losing Buttler for 17-ball 25 (with four boundaries and a six) in the final over of the powerplay (England: 64/3 in 5.5 overs), Jacob Bethell looked to counter-attack, collecting a hat-trick of sixes against Varun Chakravarthy and ending his powerplay concluding over with a four, with England’s score at 68/3.

VALIANT CENTURY

Jacob Bethell’s 105 saw England nearly chase 254!!!#INDvsENG #T20WorldCup26 pic.twitter.com/GBTkKL7EXy

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) March 5, 2026

Hardik’s seventh over gave away 15 runs, with a wide and a four and six each by Bethell, who just would not relent regardless the situation. Tom Banton also joined the party next over, smashing Axar for two successive sixes, one an inside-out and the other over long-on. However, Axar made a roaring (literally) comeback, making a mess of Banton’s stumps. The batter was gone for 17 in five balls, with a four and two sixes. England was 95/4 in 7.3 overs.

Varun continued to have troubles against Bethell, conceding three boundaries against the flashy left-hander in the ninth over. England reached the 100-run mark in 8.1 overs.

At the end of 10 overs, England was 119/4, with Bethell going strong with Will Jacks, England’s man in form throughout the tournament. Bumrah’s 11th over yielded 12 runs for England, with a four each from Jacks and Bethell. The latter reached his second T20WC fifty in 19 balls, with three fours and five sixes. The duo brought the 50 partnership in just 27 balls.

Heartiest congratulations to Team India on a brilliant victory over England and a well-deserved place in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Final!

Your determination, teamwork, and fearless performance have filled the nation with pride. Wishing our champions the very best for the… pic.twitter.com/u5mSME7R5d

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) March 5, 2026

A four and six in Varun’s 12th over continued advancing England’s run-chase. In the next over, a six over square leg by Jacks brought up England’s 150-run mark in 12.2 overs. England was 160/4 at the end of 13 overs, needing 95 runs. Arshdeep got his first wicket.

A stunning relay catch, with the help of Axar Patel, who handed it to Shivam Dube, before he could cross the boundary ropes, ended the whirlwind 77 run stand between Jacks and Bethell, removing Jacks for a 19-ball 35, with four boundaries and two sixes. England was 172/5 in 14 overs, needing 82 in the final six overs.

Varun’s nightmarish spell ended at 64 runs in four overs with a wicket, courtesy of a couple of Bethell boundaries, which kept England in the hunt with 69 runs needed in 30 balls. They were 185/5 in 15 overs. Bumrah’s 16th over yielded eight runs, keeping England alive with 61 needed in the final four overs.

Arshdeep’s 17th over was an expensive one, with two wides and a Bethell six over long-off and a four on the final ball, bringing down the equation to 45 in 18 balls. Bethell’s six brought England’s 200-run mark in 16.5 overs. Arshdeep also bowled a poor spell of 1/51 in four overs.

Bumrah started off with the 18th over, with Axar and Hardik having their overs left. His over gave away just six runs, bringing down the equation to 39 in two overs.

Bethell completed a brilliant century for his country, in just 45 balls, with Hardik’s first delivery yielding a six and Axar failing to catch it. His knock had eight fours and seven sixes. But a couple of balls later, Tilak took a fine catch near the boundary, removing Curran for a 14-ball 18. England was down to 222/6 in 18.3 overs, with another fifty-run partnership coming to an end.

Coming into the final over, the equation was down to 30 runs in six balls. Shivam Dube came to bowl the final over. Some brilliant fielding from Hardik ran out Bethell for a 48-ball 105, with England down to 225/7 in 19.1 overs. England ended their innings at 246/7, with Jofra Archer (19* in four balls, with three sixes) and Jamie Overton (2*) unbeaten. Hardik (2/38) was India’s leading wicket-taker, with Arshdeep, Axar, Bumrah and Varun getting a wicket each.

Earlier, Sanju Samson’s blistering knock of 89 runs off just 42 balls helped India set a big target of 254 runs for England in the semi-final as Men in Blue posted 253/7 in their 20 overs. This score stands as the highest-ever total in a T20 World Cup knockout match, surpassing the previous record of 205/4 held by the West Indies Vs Australia in 2012 in Colombo.

Asked to bat first in the must-win match, the Indian openers went berserk from the word go, collecting 12 runs from the first over. Samson hit a couple of boundaries in the first over of Jofra Archer to give India a blistering start. Will Jacks came to bowl the second over, and Abhishek Sharma hit him a couple of fours before losing his wicket on the last delivery, once again while going big against off-spin. This was the third instance of him losing his wicket to an offie this tournament, scoring nine runs off seven balls. India was 20/1 in two overs.

Ishan Kishan joined Samson, who started and ended the overs with a four and added a six over deepmidwicket in between, collecting 14 runs against Archer in the next over. The duo added two more boundaries each in the fourth and fifth over, bringing the 50-run mark in 4.3 overs. India managed to collect 67 runs in the power play, with the loss of Sharma’s wicket.

Samson completed his half-century with a six in the eighth over, which was Liam Dawson’s first over, which yielded 19 runs, including a six each by Sanju and Ishan. Samson reached his milestone in 26 balls, with seven fours and three sixes.

Curran came to bowl the next over, and he conceded 20 runs, including a six each by the duo and a Samson boundary. India reached the 100-run mark in 8.3 overs.

Samson and Kishan made a new record of the highest partnership for India in a T20 World Cup knockout match. Kishan lost his wicket in the 10th over after making 39 runs off 18 balls, dismissed by Adil Rashid, holing out to Will Jacks at long-off. The partnership of 97 runs was undone, and India was 117/2 in 9.3 overs.

Halfway through their innings, India was 119/2, with Dube and Samson at the crease. Samson was the aggressor. He hit Adil Rashid for two sixes in the 12th over and targeted Jofra Archer in the next over to collect two more sixes. He lost his wicket while trying the same in the next over when Phil Salt took a fine catch over covers, losing his wicket to Will Jacks for 89 in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes. India was 160/3 in 13.1 overs.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav made a quick six-ball-11 before he lost his wicket to Adil Rashid via a stumping, who became the joint-second highest wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup. He joined Adam Zampa, who has taken 44 wickets in the T20 World Cup. Shalib Al Hasan is at the top with 50 wickets. India was 190/4 in 15.4 overs.

Dube and Hardik Pandya added 22 runs for the fifth wicket, with India bringing up the 200-run mark in 16.5 overs. Dube lost his wicket in a bizarre runout. He made 43 runs off 24 balls with the help of four sixes and a four. India was 212/5 in 17.3 overs.

Pandya made 27 runs off 12 balls, and Tilak Varma made 21 runs off just seven balls with three sixes, which helped India set the biggest total in a T20 World Cup knockout match. This is India’s sixth 250-plus total in the format. India hit 19 sixes in their innings, which is the joint-most in a T20 World Cup innings.

India holds the record for most 250-plus scores in Men’s T20 Internationals, with impressive totals like 297/6 against Bangladesh, 283/1 against South Africa, and 271/5 against New Zealand.

Brief Scores: India: 253/7 (Sanju Samson 89, Shivam Dube 43, Will Jacks 2/40) beat England: 246/7 (Jacob Bethell 105, Will Jacks 35, Hardik Pandya 2/38). (ANI)