India remain unbeaten following win against England

India will take on South Africa in the final of the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup on Saturday, following a 68-run win against England in the second semi-final in Guyana. The previous day South Africa had been triumphant against Afghanistan on a pitch that many described as not fit for a semi-final of a major tournament. This was due to the uneven nature of the bounce which led to a very low-scoring contest.

On a day when rain was a major talking point leading into the contest, and the start was delayed, Jos Buttler won the toss and bowled first. Reece Topley clean bowled Virat Kholi for 9, whose bad run of form continued, and Rishabh Pant picked out Jonny Bairstow at midwicket off the bowling of Sam Curran.

Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav got into their stride and looked to be taking the game away from England before the rain returned after eight overs. This led to a further lengthy delay and the scoring rate decreased upon resumption.

The captain reached his half-century but was bowled by Adil Rashid soon after. Late order hitting was provided by Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya which took India through to 171/7 at the end of the 20 overs.

England's best bowlers were the two spinners - Rashid and Liam Livingstone - whose eight overs went for around a run-a-ball. Therefore, given the slow nature of the pitch, it seemed an odd decision to not utilise Moeen Ali but instead rely on the seamers. Chris Jordan was expensive, despite taking the three wickets, as was Curran whose two overs went for 25.

The decision not to use the third spinner seemed even more baffling given the subsequent success of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav when it was India's turn to bowl. There constant threat saw them account for six England wickets in a spell of eight overs that also conceded just three boundaries. Only Buttler, Harry Brook and Jofra Archer offered any resistance with the bat, but it was not enough to challenge and England were all out for just 103.