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England 170 for 0 (Hales 86*, Buttler 80*) beat India 168 for 6 (Hardik 63, Kohli 50, Jordan 3-43) by 10 wickets
For all of England’s game-breaking talent, this win that takes them into the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup final was all about doing the basics right.
They protected the short square boundary in Adelaide, giving away only two sixes until the start of the death overs.
They saw a chance to break open a chase of 169 in the powerplay, when the ball was coming on nicely under the lights, and seized it. Ten boundaries in the first six overs. And their second-highest score against India in a T20I while the field restrictions were on.
One horrid rain-soaked night at the MCG, England played the way they swore they never would. The captain then came out and said “let it hurt”.
Pain is powerful, but just as well as it disorients, it brings clarity. In that it forces people to do everything possible to never feel it again. And that’s what’s happened.
Since that defeat to Ireland, where they kept second-guessing themselves, England have batted and bowled with ultimate clarity. The selection of Hales was one of ultimate clarity. He came with solid experience in Australian conditions. They needed that experience. Buttler made the call. And now here is the payoff.
Hales equalled India’s tally of sixes all by himself – seven – reducing their bowlers bowlers to rubble. He even backed himself to clear Adelaide’s massive 88-metre straight boundaries.
When all was said and done and he was picking up his Player of the Match award, he looked straight into the camera and said, “I never thought I would play a World Cup again.”
A few India fans must be going, “If only…”
He must have known this because first ball he charged out of his crease, intent on negating the India bowler’s biggest strength. His swing.
These were the kinds of moves Buttler was making all night as he finished on 80 off 49.
He front-loaded Adil Rashid against India’s right-hand heavy top-order. And the legspinner took out Suryakumar Yadav.
He reaffirmed Chris Jordan’s faith in his yorkers. One of those toppled Virat Kohli off his feet.
Buttler was at the centre of a lot of good things – but most of them probably date back to the drawing board.
Buttler backed Rashid to pull off this heist, and this was even after the legspinner had been punished for a boundary first ball all because he had dared to toss it up.
Suryakumar is the man India look to for acceleration through the middle and the death. With him gone for 14 off 10, the game had changed.
More to follow
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