Player of the Match
Player of the Match

END OF OVER:
16 | 14 Runs | ENG: 170/0 | RR: 10.62

  • Jos Buttler80 (49b)
  • Alex Hales86 (47b)
  • Mohammed Shami3-0-39-0
  • Axar Patel4-0-30-0

9.48pm And that's a wrap from Adelaide. This was the game that England always had it in them to play, and they brought it out at the perfect time, shrugging off a slow start to the tournament and leaving India wondering what hit them. They look in the perfect shape for the final at the MCG, but they'll have to contend with a red-hot Pakistan, qudrat ka nizam, and all that. We hope you've enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, it's goodbye from me, Andrew, Raghav and Thilak.

Jos Buttler: "[The Ireland game] feels a long time ago. The character we've shown to get through the tournament since then, and put in our best performance today, has been amazing. We came here excited, it was a really good feeling when we came in. A group effort from 1 to 11. We always want to start as fast as we can and aggressive. Adil Rashid was down at No. 11 today, and that gives us the freedom to come out aggressive, that depth. Hales was tough to bowl at today, he used the dimensions of the ground, and we complement each other perfectly. He was a brilliant partner today. Special praise to Chris Jordan for coming in today, not having played so far, and he ran into Hardik playing fantastically at the death, but I thought he handed that really well."

Rohit Sharma: "It's pretty disappointing how we turned up today. I thought we still batted pretty well at the back end to get to that score, but we were not good enough with the ball. It was definitely not a wicket where a team can come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn't turn up today. When it comes to knockout stages, it's all about handling the pressure. Depends on the individual as well. You can't teach anyone to handle pressure. When these guys play the playoffs in the IPL and all that, those are high-pressure games, and they're able to handle it. The way we started with the ball was not ideal. We were a little nervy, but you have to give credit to the openers as well. They played really well. When Bhuvi bowled the first over it swung today, but not from the right areas. We wanted to keep it tight, not give room, because square of the wicket was an area we were aware of - that's where the runs came today. If we keep it tight and the batsman still score runs, we'll take it. But we didn't do that today. In the game against Bangladesh it was tricky as well, but I thought we held our nerve that day, executed well."

9.40pm Visuals of Rohit Sharma in the dugout, looking utterly despondent. He struggled through this tournament: showed a lot of intent at the top of the order, but simply failed to find the fluency to match that intent. Tonight's innings was a culmination of that. India have come quite a way since last year's T20 World Cup, but the problem of not being able to force the pace against spin through the powerplay and early middle overs hasn't gone away at all.

Alex Hales, the Player of the Match: "A huge occasion, really happy with the way I played. I think this is one of the best grounds to bat in in the world. Great value to hit your shots with the short square boundaries, and a ground I have good memories at. I never thought I'd play in a World Cup again, and to get a chance is a special feeling. It's a country I love playing in. Jos was unbelievable out there."

9.32pm It'll be Pakistan vs England at the MCG. Thirty years after Pakistan vs England at the MCG. What an occasion it will be, because it'll be two utterly in-form teams at peak confidence. If Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan made a triumphant return to form yesterday, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler have gone even better, obliterating India's attack and showing up a strong opposition's limitations along the way. A ten-wicket win in a semi-final. With four overs remaining. An absolute hammering. For India, this result has eerie echoes to their semi-final against West Indies at the Wankhede back in 2016. Their batting has evolved significantly since then, and that evolution has been accelerated over the last year or so, but they still have a long way to go to catch up with the very best T20 batting sides.

Elsewhere, in the Pro Kabaddi League week, 5 saw a slew of records: Fazel Atrachali becomes PKL's most-successful defender while Ajinkya Pawar scored six points in ~that~ raid. Here are this week's PKL9 highlights in numbers.

RamanJ: "India playing in Group B faced less competition and England in group A faced fierce competition for a spot facing NZ, Aus, SL, and other teams. That's what let England get this comprehensive win, their struggle. Absolutely brilliant and phenomenal."

Dan: "Hopefully this loss for India will usher a new beginning like how it happened for England after 2015 WC. They should definitely look beyond the likes of Rahul, Karthik, Bhuvi, Ashwin and even Rohit. Get the likes of Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Umran Malik in. Time to look at the future"

Mustafa Moudi: "Fun Fact: This KOs is mirror image of last year's KO. England, NZ and Pakistan along with the current Host made it to the SF in which England and Pakistan lost their SFs. This year, England, NZ and Pakistan along with the last year's host made it to the SF in which England and Pakistan have won and proceeded to the Finals !!"

Kamy: "This is proper hammering
India should feel the pain and should reflect on their approach in this World Cup
slow in first 10 overs, no wicket taking option in middle overs, no wristspinner." -- I don't know how much Chahal or any other wristspinner could have done today, to be fair.

15.6
6
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, SIX, what a way to complete the job. We've been talking about the short square boundaries, but England haven't been constrained by the long straight boundaries either. Steps away from leg stump to create hitting room against a full ball outside off, and brings those wrists into play to whip it up and over the leaping long-on fielder. What an incredible win from England
15.5
1
Mohammed Shami to Hales, 1 run, looks for the yorker, bowls a low full-toss on the stumps, and nearly gets an lbw. But Hales, shuffling across to flick, gets a thick inside edge in the nick of time, down to fine leg
15.4
4
Mohammed Shami to Hales, FOUR, shortish on off stump, and Hales does it again. Just steps away to the leg side to make room and carves the ball over the cover point region. Deep point didn't have a lot of distance to cover to his right, but the square boundaries here are just too short. Excellent batting

Karan: "England didn't chase it in under 15 overs. Moral victory is ours."

15.3
1
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, 1 run, full on off stump, driven to the left of long-off
15.2
0
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, no run, slower ball in the corridor, back of a length, beats Buttler's attempt to steer it down to third

Rajkumar Lingav: "15th over - First boundary-less over."

15.1
2
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, 2 runs, hits a fullish length angling into the stumps. Not a half-volley. Makes room to hit over extra-cover, slices it on the bounce to the right of deep point

Just 13 to win now. Can they finish it off in this over? Shami continues.

END OF OVER:
15 | 2 Runs | ENG: 156/0 (13 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 10.40, RRR: 2.60)

  • Alex Hales81 (45b)
  • Jos Buttler71 (45b)
  • Axar Patel4-0-30-0
  • Mohammed Shami2-0-25-0
14.6
0
Patel to Hales, no run, wow. Just two off the over. Flat length ball grips the pitch and straightens just outside off to beat Hales' attempted push into the covers
14.5
0
Patel to Hales, no run, tossed up outside off, stretches out and blocks to extra-cover
14.4
0
Patel to Hales, no run, full, almost yorker length at the feet. Inside-edges the flick into his front pad, and Pant stretches out his right leg to stop the ball with his foot
14.3
1
Patel to Buttler, 1 run, flat length ball angling in towards middle and leg. Makes room and jabs to the right of point
14.2
0
Patel to Buttler, no run, makes room to chop the off-stump length ball to extra-cover. Couldn't quite squeeze it into the gap to his left
14.1
1
Patel to Hales, 1 run, back of a length, angling in towards off stump, flat-batted to long-on

Axar returns. Left-arm around.

END OF OVER:
14 | 14 Runs | ENG: 154/0 (15 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 11.00, RRR: 2.50)

  • Jos Buttler70 (43b)
  • Alex Hales80 (41b)
  • Mohammed Shami2-0-25-0
  • Hardik Pandya3-0-34-0
13.6
4
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, FOUR, dropped. Buttler looks for a repeat off a good-length ball on off stump, and ends up skying it high. Mid-off has to turn around and sprint towards the boundary to take the catch. Tough chance, and all Suryakumar does is parry it away from the reach of Kohli running towards him from mid-on. And to sum up the game India are having, the ball runs away to the straight boundary
13.5
6
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, SIX, looks for the stump-to-stump yorker again, and underpitches. Ends up bowling a half-volley, and Buttler puts it away in typically Buttlerian manner, hitting wristily over long-off while opening up at the hips while doing so
13.4
0
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, no run, off-stump yorker. Sashays away from leg stump and chops it to extra-cover
13.3
4
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, FOUR, full on off stump, and that's not middled, but he's picked the gap nicely. Gets underneath the ball to shovel his drive over extra-cover, and plops it into the massive gap between deep point and long-off
13.2
0
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, no run, offcutter finishing around middle stump. Stays leg-side of the ball and punches once more to extra-cover
13.1
0
Mohammed Shami to Buttler, no run, length ball on off stump, makes room and punches to short extra-cover, where Rohit makes a diving stop to his left

Nitin: "Don't get it. Shami just one over and Hardik three??" -- Here's Shami. Valid question.

Chris: "Butler scores a 36 ball half century and looks like a slouch! "

END OF OVER:
13 | 17 Runs | ENG: 140/0 (29 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 10.76, RRR: 4.14)

  • Jos Buttler56 (37b)
  • Alex Hales80 (41b)
  • Hardik Pandya3-0-34-0
  • Ravichandran Ashwin2-0-27-0
12.6
1
Pandya to Buttler, 1 run, offcutter, back of a length, finishing around leg stump, pulled along the ground towards deep square leg
12.5
6
Pandya to Buttler, SIX, at some point. Hardik's trust in the hard lengths was going to cost him on this ground. No margin for error. Drops a touch too short, and Buttler pulls him away over the short leg-side boundary. Only 69m, this shot carries, but that's still enough to get it over the rope and the advertising hoardings. What a way to bring up fifty!
12.4
4
Pandya to Buttler, FOUR, and that's a Buttler special. Bouncer over the stumps, and Buttler, shuffling across looking for the scoop to fine leg, adjusts to the length and just helps a hook down to the boundary, to the right of fine leg
12.3
3
Pandya to Hales, 3 runs, terrific shot. Not a boundary, but it clearly demonstrates why Hales has been so hard to contain today. Back of a length, following his movement to the leg side, but he manages to manufacture a straight-bat jab over mid-on. If he connected better it was running away for four
12.2
1
Pandya to Buttler, 1 run, goes for the hard length again, angling in over the stumps, and now Buttler leans away from the line to dab to deep third
12.1
2
Pandya to Buttler, 2 runs, back of a length on top of off stump, stays leg-side of the ball and punches to sweeper cover

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

First Round Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL32140.667
NED3214-0.162
NAM31220.73
UAE3122-1.235
First Round Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
ZIM32140.2
IRE32140.105
SCOT31220.304
WI3122-0.563
Group 1
TeamMWLPTNRR
NZ53172.113
ENG53170.473
AUS5317-0.173
SL5234-0.422
IRE5133-1.615
AFG5032-0.571
Group 2
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND54181.319
PAK53261.028
SA52250.874
NED5234-0.849
BAN5234-1.176
ZIM5133-1.138