England set up a mouth watering final clash against Pakistan after they beat India by ten wickets in front of a 40,094 strong crowd at the Adelaide Oval. The two teams had competed in a seven game T20 series back in Pakistan before the World Cup, with England winning 4-3, and this T20 WC final on Sunday is essentially a repeat of the 1992 WC final at the same venue (Imran Khan’s side won that day). Pakistan had beaten NZ in front of 36,443 fans at the SCG yesterday in the first SF.
India’s crowds in Australia have been excellent through the WC (see all Indian game attendances at T20 WC 2022), and this one was no different- the 40,094 fans in attendance was a record for the Adelaide Oval in this tournament.
The last team to win a T20 World Cup knockout game (not affected by rain/DLS) were the West Indies back in 2012, and England skipper, Jos Buttler, perhaps aware of that fact, opted to put India in after winning the toss.
The Men in Blue lost KL Rahul early, and skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opted to consolidate rather than attack in the early stages, which meant India crawling to 60 odd after the first ten overs. That became 100/3 after 15 overs, but Hardik Pandya’s blitzkrieg at the end saw India score 68 off the final five, and they finished at 168/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
India’s pacers didn’t find any real swing in the powerplay and that played into the hands of England’s openers, who attacked from the word go. Buttler and Alex Hales got 63 in the first six overs, more than what India had got in their first ten, and that pretty much was the game there.
India didn’t have a leg spinner on this wicket- Yuzi Chahal could’ve been handy given Adil Rashid’s exploits (he went 1/20 in his 4 and also got the key wicket of Suryakumar Yadav), but the Men in Blue had dropped him owing to his poor abilities with the bat.
To rub salt on the wounds, India were unable to take a single wicket (although they did drop catches), and England coasted home in 16 overs, overhauling the target with ten wickets and four overs to spare.