India reach final as England fall short in thriller despite stunning Bethell ton

Ahmedabad, Saturday – India will defend their T20 World Cup title on home soil after a breathless semi-final that saw England fall seven runs short of the second-highest chase in T20 international history. Jacob Bethell’s maiden T20 hundred – a blistering 105 off 48 balls – dragged Harry Brook’s side to the brink of an extraordinary heist, but the hosts’ tournament-record 253-7 ultimately proved just beyond reach.

Put in after losing the toss, India blazed to 253-7, the highest total ever posted in a T20 World Cup knockout. Sanju Samson capitalised on a life at 15 when Brook shelled a routine catch at mid-on, punishing England with seven sixes and eight fours in an 89 off 42. Ishan Kishan’s 18-ball 39 propelled a 97-run second-wicket stand, while Shivam Dube (43 off 25), Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) and Tilak Varma (21 off 7) kept the accelerator down. Jofra Archer bore the brunt, leaking 61 from four overs; Adil Rashid and Will Jacks each claimed two wickets.

Chasing 254, England slipped to 38-2 when Brook chipped Axar Patel to short cover. Bethell arrived in the fifth over and immediately shifted momentum, slog-sweeping Varun Chakravarthy for three successive sixes. A 19-ball fifty followed; a 45-ball hundred arrived with a seventh maximum off the first ball of Pandya’s penultimate over. Bethell and Jacks added 77 in 5.3 overs before Axar, sprinting round at deep midwicket, relayed a catch to remove Jacks for 35 off 20. Thirty were required off the last; Bethell was run out first ball of the 20th, and though Archer clubbed three late sixes, England finished on 246-7.

India now meet New Zealand in Sunday’s final at Narendra Modi Stadium, live on Sky Sports from 1 pm UK time (first ball 1.30 pm).