IND VS ENG - 2nd Semi-Final, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022

So it's going to be Pakistan vs England at the MCG folks! Both the teams notched up clinical wins in the semis, and they'll be looking forward to repeating the same in the grand finale. The Indian openers failed to rise to the occasion tonight, but their opposition openers did. Virat Kohli and SKY entertained the Indian fans in the league stage, but the latter couldn't do the same in this all important clash. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, barring a couple of contributions, couldn't do anything either. And India's bowling was completely exposed today, that was pretty much expected even before this World Cup started. We'll be back with the live coverage of the final on Sunday, make sure to tune in to Cricbuzz to catch all the action. For now, this is Nikhil signing off on behalf of Pradeep, Akshay, Hariprasad and Siva. See you!!

Highest partnerships in T20 World Cups:
170*J Buttler - A Hales Adelaide 2022
168 Q de Kock - R Rossouw v Ban 2022
166 M Jayawardene - K Sangakkara v WI 2010
152*Babar Azam - Mohd Rizwan v Ind 2021
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Highest partnerships vs India in T20Is for any wkt:
174*Q de Kock - D Miller Guwahati 2022
170*J Buttler - A Hales Adelaide 2022
152*Babar Azam - Mohd Rizwan Dubai 2021

Highest partnership for England in T20Is:
182 D Malan - E Morgan v NZ Napier 2019
170*J Buttler - A Hales v Ind Adelaide 2022
167*J Buttler - D Malan v SA Cape Town 2020

Highest targets chased down without losing a wicket in T20Is:
200 Pak vs Eng Karachi 2022 (Babar, Rizwan)
170 NZ v Pak Hamilton 2016 (Guptill, Williamson)
169 Eng v Ind Adelaide 2022 (Buttler, Hales)

Jos Buttler: I think the character we have shown since then (England's loss against Ireland) - it has been amazing. We came here very excited, there was a very good feeling. Everyone from 1 to 11 - stood up today. We always want to start fast and aggressive. Rashid was batting at 11, that's incredible to know that we have such depth. Hales used the dimensions well and he has shown his form. He was brilliant today. It's important to enjoy this, it was a brilliant performance from us. I think we need to give special credit to Jordan, to bowl 3 overs at the death coming into the semi-final, it was a tough job. He handled the pressure towards the end pretty well, especially bowling against a world class player like Hardik Pandya.

Rohit Sharma: Pretty disappointed how it turned up today. We batted well at the backend to get that score. We were not upto the mark with the ball, we couldn't turn up today. It's all about handling the pressure in knockout games. All these guys have played enough to understand that. These guys have played under pressure in IPL games, it's all about keeping calm. We were nervy to start with, but you got to give credit to their openers, they played really well. I thought it swung a bit in the first over, but not from the right areas. We know the runs are scored square off the wicke, we were aware about it. When we won the first game, it showed a lot of character. The game against Bangladesh, it was a tricky one. I thought it was difficult defending 85 runs in 9 overs, but we held our nerve and executed our plans. Couldn't do that today, and when you don't execute your plans, you are in trouble.

Alex Hales | Player of the Match: It will be right up there for sure (referring to a perfect innings). Huge occasion, India in a semifinal of a World Cup, really happy with the way I played and it is as special as it gets. This is one of the best grounds to bat in especially in the powerplay, a really good surface and great value for good cricket shots, this is a ground I have good memories of and enjoy batting here. I never thought I would play in a World Cup again, so to get the chance is a very special feeling, in a country (Australia) that I love and spend a lot of time in, tonight is one of the best night's of my career. Jos was unbelievable.

21:35 Local Time, 11:05 GMT, 16:35 IST: What an authoritative performance from Buttler and Hales that! Today, it was England all the way! Kohli and Pandya gave India some respectability with their partnership, but Hales and Buttler were simply outstanding in reply. Indian captain - Rohit Sharma struggled with the bat earlier in the day, and in the second innings - he was left clueless as a result of the pyrotechnics by the English openers. Buttler hit three boundaries against Bhuvneshwar in the first over of the chase, and Hales multiplied India's problems with his breathtaking knock thereafter. There was never a moment when the England openers looked troubled during the run chase as they finished things off in 16 overs. If it was a clinical performance by Babar and Rizwan yesterday, the England openers have done an even better job. So it's going to be the battle of the openers in the grand finale at the MCG. Stay around for the presentations folks..

Shami to Buttler, SIX, Buttler hits the winning runs! He clears his front leg and clears Virat Kohli at long-on with this lofted shot. Roars out in delight does the skipper as England fix a date against Pakistan for the T20 World Cup final at the MCG. "It's going to be a repeat of the 1992 World Cup final," informs Ravi Shastri on air. Both the openers have a wide smile on their face as they walk back to greet their team-mates. Looks like the Indian fans have already left the stadium. England's Barmy Army is jumping with joy and singing out loud as their team has made it to the grand finale

Shami to Hales, 1 run, clips this off an inside edge towards fine leg for a single

Shami to Hales, FOUR, no stopping Hales, like I said before. A short ball outside off, Hales moves back and across and slaps this to the right of deep point for four more. That almost went for a flat six

Shami to Buttler, 1 run, pitched up by Shami outside off, Buttler drives this to wide long-off for a single

Shami to Buttler, no run, short and slow ball outside off, Buttler tries to steer this through the off-side, gets beaten due to the lack of pace

Shami to Buttler, 2 runs, on a length around off, Buttler throws the kitchen sink at it, lofts it towards deep cover for a couple of runs

Axar to Hales, no run, quicker through the air outside off, Hales has a push at it, gets beaten on the outside edge

Axar to Hales, no run, tossed up delivery around off, Hales plays it off the front foot, pushing it to cover from within the crease

Axar to Hales, no run, yorker length around middle and leg, Hales looks to flick this away, ends up getting an inside edge on to his boot

Axar to Buttler, 1 run, pushed through on a length around off, Buttler steers it to point for a single

Axar to Buttler, no run, fraction short around off, punched to cover off the back foot

Axar to Hales, 1 run, fraction short on middle and leg, Hales nudges it to mid-on for a single