The whole cricket ground was eagerly awaiting a blockbuster rematch between India and Pakistan, the most fierce rivalry in world cricket, for Sunday’s T20 World Cup final.
But a magnificent all-round performance from England at the Adelaide Oval has put paid to all that, Jos Buttler’s men smashing India by 10 wickets with four full overs to spare to leave themselves just one win away from a second T20 world title.
A brilliant, unbeaten 170-run opening partnership from captain Buttler (80 off 49) and Alex Hales (86 off 47) – the highest partnership for any wicket in T20 World Cup history – paved the way for the most comprehensive of victories; while earlier, a relentless bowling display left Indian blaster Hardik Pandya (63 off 33) too much to do to set a competitive total.
India’s eventual tally of 6/168, only possible thanks to Pandya hitting 58 from the final four overs, may have been enough on another day, against another side. But with the English opening pair in the form of their lives, it always felt light.
The win establishes England, the holders of the ODI World Cup, as the premier white-ball team in the world; should they defeat Pakistan at the MCG on Sunday, they will become the first ever side to hold both major trophies simultaneously.
A first-ball four from KL Rahul from a loose Ben Stokes offering was about as easy as it got for India in the early stages; Rahul, for one, would last just four more balls before edging Chris Woakes behind.
The occasional glorious boundary from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – Kohli’s lofted drive for six off Sam Curran one of the shots of the tournament – came with it a mixture of miserly bowling from England’s seamers and leg-spinner Adil Rashid; Sharma, despite four fours, could only muster 27 off 28 balls before a wild slog was spectacularly caught by Curran in the deep.
When India’s talisman Suryakumar Yadav fell for just 14, deceived by Rashid into slicing a lofted drive straight up, a competitive total seemed nearly out of reach already.
But nothing is impossible while Kohli remains at the wicket. The undisputed player of the tournament thus far, the maestro seldom looked rushed as he crept towards his 50, keeping the scoreboard ticking over while preserving wickets for the final flurry.
Jos Buttler and Alex Hales of England celebrate victory. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
There was a bit of luck – a massive LBW shout from England off a Chris Jordan yorker was found by ball-tracker to not be hitting leg stump enough to overturn the on-field not out call – but otherwise, Kohli looked unruffled as he cruised to his fourth half-century in six innings in a remarkable World Cup.
Having been unbeaten in the first three of those, it would be fourth time unlucky for Kohli, well caught at short third man by Rashid as Jordan finally got his man. Nevertheless, his 40-ball 50 had stemmed the tide of the early collapse; and Pandya, who had clubbed Jordan and Curran for three sixes across the previous two overs, was ready to launch.
Having been on 13 off 15 balls before the start of the 16th over, the all-rounder would bring up his half-century with the final ball of the 19th. Together with Rishabh Pant, 20 runs came off a Curran over that seldom put a foot wrong, Pandya hitting a pair of yorkers for spectacular fours (one, admittedly, thanks to a Stokes midfield at deep mid-wicket), and sending the one bad short ball into the stands over long on.
Such was his striking that Pant, one of world cricket’s most exhilarating batters, was content to sacrifice himself in a run out to allow Pandya back the strike in the final over. A six and a four off Jordan ensued, before he fell the only way he was really going to: heading deep back into his crease to deal with the Jordan yorker, he whipped him through mid-wicket for four, only to tread on his own stumps to end the innings in bizarre scenes.
Pandya’s heroics, though, soon paled in comparison to those of Hales and Buttler. Their opening partnership of 81 effectively dealt New Zealand a blow they couldn’t recover from in a crunch group stages game, before they put on 75 in barely over seven overs against Sri Lanka to break the back of a chase that they could easily have botched without them.
This was even more spectacular – more than twice as spectacular, to be specific. Yet again, Buttler and Hales showed a rare desire at this tournament to attack in the PowerPlay overs, rather than preserve wickets: where India crawled to 1/38 from their first six, the English bludgeoned 63.
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From the first legal delivery of the innings, where Buttler hammered a square drive off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the pair seemed ready to again do all the heavy lifting themselves.
Hales, who might only be in this squad due to Jonny Bairstow’s bizarre golf-inflicted broken leg, seems keener and keener with every passing innings to make up for his wilderness years in which a series of off-field incidents earned him persona non grata status under Buttler’s predecessor as captain Eoin Morgan.
“To get the chance to play for England again at a time when I feel like I am playing the best T20 cricket of my career is a great feeling,” Hales said after his dominant display.
“It’s maybe a chance I didn’t think would come around again.”
Even India’s deep crop of bowlers were no match for the pair, Hales bringing up 50 off just 28 balls having comfortably outpaced Buttler. But the skipper was about to explode himself.
With Pant cramping up behind the stumps, Buttler was keen to give his opposing wicketkeeper an early night to recover. Lethal on anything short, which sat up nicely on the well-used Adelaide pitch, the deep mid-wicket fans took a hammering; Pandya’s efforts to rile the crowd up perhaps would have been better served focussing on hitting his lengths. Clearly India’s best on the night, though, it would be harsh to blame him at all.
The match was perfectly summed up by a lofted Buttler drive being dropped by Yadav running in, with the ball rebounding past Kohli and to the boundary.
The last thing to tick off was to finish in style; with a spectacular six down the ground off Shami, Buttler ensured the most emphatic of chases was completed by the most emphatic of strokes.
England, for the third time, are into a T20 World Cup final. And while Pakistan’s surge at this tournament has been something to behold, there is no question about who will start on Sunday as comfortable favourites.
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