28 June,2024 06:43 AM IST | Providence | R Kaushik
Axar Patel celebrates a wicket against England on Thursday. Pic/AFP
Even before umpire Chris Gaffaney's right index finger shot skywards, Jos Buttler put his head down and commenced his long walk back to the dugout. England's opener, their premier batter and captain had fallen to the first ball of spin in his team's run-chase against India. As he departed the crease, he must have had an inkling of what was to follow.
What followed at the Guyana National Stadium on Thursday was utter and complete carnage. Having ridden on handsome contributions from skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, and blistering cameos from Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, to post 171-7 on being asked to bat first in the second semi-final, India piggybacked on Axar's brilliance to skittle England for 103 and complete a 68-run thumping. Their reward - a Saturday date at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown against first-time finalists South Africa.
Rohit brought Axar on for the fourth over, with England 26 without loss. Buttler essayed an ambitious reverse sweep off the left-arm spinner's first ball, only managed a toe end and was easily caught by Rishabh Pant. That triggered a sequence where Axar picked up a wicket with the first ball of his second and third overs as well. With Kuldeep Yadav spinning a wicked web around the middle order and Jasprit Bumrah doing Bumrah things, England imploded spectacularly, their title defence in ruins long before Bumrah trapped Jofra Archer in front.
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"I didn't plan to get wickets off the first ball," Axar, the Player of the Match for his 3-23, smiled. "When you play in the knockouts, your mindset is that you should start and finish the over well.
Every time I got a wicket, that was a bonus. It feels very good when you perform and the team win. When you perform and the team doesn't do well, the performance doesn't matter. I feel good that we are one step closer to the trophy."
Several eyebrows were raised when Buttler opted to chase on a sluggish, two-paced surface of low bounce where batting would get progressively tougher. "Whatever happened at the toss, I don't think it influenced the outcome of the match," he insisted. "They were going to be a tough team to beat. We had to be at our best if we were going to win the game, and we were short of our best today. We were outplayed by India, they fully deserved the victory. I was hoping to restrict them to 145-150, but it was always going to be a tough chase [once they got to 171]."
