India v England LIVE: T20 World Cup semi-final reaction after Jos Buttler’s team hammered in 68-run defeat
England face a tough challenge to defend their T20 World Cup title when they take on India in Guyana
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England have been heavily beaten in a 68-run defeat by India in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Guyana, after two rain delays.
Jos Buttler’s side had started the tournament as defending champions and struggled slightly with the ball to contain the flow of runs, with Rohit Sharma hitting an important 57 runs at the top of the order, as they put on 171 runs.
India’s innings was affected by a rain delay, but it did not appear to hold them back. When it came England’s turn to bat, they started with a brief promise, and Buttler made 23 runs from just 15 balls, but his wicket sparked the collapse from which they never recovered.
Harry Brook top-scored with 25 and they never threatened to get near the India total.
The draw has been stacked in India’s favour. Unlike England, who only found out where they would play this semi-final at the last minute, India and their fans have known for months. It was designed to benefit those watching TV in Asia rather than local or international audiences.
Follow all the live action from the match in Guyana with our blog below:
India 86-2 (11), Rohit 48, Yadav 23, Livingstone 0-13 (2)
Livingstone will have another, there’s just one run from the first two balls. He drags down another, but again it’s stopped on the boundary and just goes for a single.
Rohit misses out on a reverse sweep, he has hit it straight to the fielder and the pressure is just building slightly...but it’s released the next ball with a huge six down the ground from Rohit.
India 77-2 (10), Rohit 41, Yadav 21, Rashid 0-17 (2)
Rashid will have his second, his first went for 10, there’s a single off the first ball. There’s a big shout for lbw but it looked like Yadav had just come too far down and it might have been hitting outside the line.
Yadav comes down the track and looks to go big through the off side but he picks out the player on the boundary.
Rashid had bowled a good over, but releases pressure with a full toss that Yadav dispatches for four.
India 69-2 (9), Rohit 39, Yadav 15, Livingstone 0-4 (1)
Livingstone will bowl, he was going to bowl before the delay and will do so now. The first ball is a dot, and the second Yadav tries to send through the off side but doesn’t get hold of it.
Yadav manages to get off strike with a single, and Rohit follows with another. This feels like a bit of a settling-in over for India, and the batters will have had to start again after the delay.
Just the four runs from the over, and England will welcome that.
India will resume on 65-2
There will be no overs lost at this point and the players are coming back onto the field.
Rain stops play with India 65-2 - Pitch inspection
The match will get underway at 6.41pm BST!
Finally, the pitch has been deemed playable and we will get back underway soon!
Rain stops play with India 65-2
With no reserve day built into the schedule, England were desperate for the skies to clear.
The match had already started 75 minutes late due to morning showers but when the covers came off captain Jos Buttler kept up a handy record at the toss, winning for the sixth time in eight games.
After sending India in to try and exploit any early assistance from the pitch Jofra Archer almost delivered the big wicket of Rohit Sharma for just five in his first over. But, as the ball skewed up towards point, Phil Salt appeared to lose sight of it as it sailed over him at catchable height.
Topley made up for that missed opportunity at the other end, knocking over Kohli’s leg stump for nine as the A-lister continued a positively C-list run of form. Topley was admirably unfazed by a big swing for six two balls earlier, dragging back his length and threading the gap between bat and pad.
Rohit survived a couple of mis-hits before finding his timing with a couple of sweet strikes off Topley but England picked off another when Pant hacked across the line at Sam Curran and picked out short midwicket.
The all-rounder bellowed in celebration as the ball stuck in Jonny Bairstow’s hands, finishing a tidy over to leave India 46 for two at the end of the powerplay and relying on their captain.
With rain starting to fall, India scored 19 off the next two overs as Rohit (37 not out) took two fours off Adil Rashid and new man Suryakumar Yadav scooped Chris Jordan for six over fine-leg.
As the downpour got heavier, the umpires suspended play with the game finely poised.
Rain stops play with India 65-2 - Pitch inspection
There is an umpire with umbrella out underneath blue sky, Katy Perry is blasting out of the speakers, the mopper is being called back out to do it’s work, still no update.
Rain stops play with India 65-2 - Pitch inspection
The umpires are out on the field, and a bucket of sawdust is being shaken around.
The umpires are walking and looking at various parts of the turf. There are calls for a blotter on a particular patch of the square.
Rain stops play with India 65-2 - pitch inspection
Here is what has happened so far:
England took two early wickets in their T20 World Cup semi-final against India before rain intervened to dampen their enthusiasm in Guyana.
The defending champions had their opponents 65 for two after eight overs at the Providence Stadium, Reece Topley cleaning up Virat Kohli with the new ball and Sam Curran neutralising the dangerous Rishabh Pant.
But England know they must beat the weather as well as the world’s number one side if they are to set a date with South Africa in Barbados on Saturday. Should the match be washed out, India would progress to the final thanks to their superior performance in the previous round.
Rain stops play with India 65-2 - pitch inspection
The Umpires are out on the field having a look. There was a patch just on the bowler’s run up that had sawdust on it earlier that might be a bit of a cause for concern.
The news is...there will be another inspection in 20 minutes.
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