India suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the hands of England in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup. Another ICC World Cup dream shattered for Men in blue as they finished on an embarrassing note. In a big T20 match like the semifinal, the top-order batters should play fearless cricket and score run aggressively than being cautious. England’s opening duo Jos Butler and Alex Hales made a different approach by slaughtering the Indian bowlers and secured a memorable win.

After being put in to bat first, India lost its opener KL Rahul very early for just 5. An early loss created pressure on skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli so they played cautiously and scored runs at a slow rate. Rohit departed after scoring 27 in 28-balls. The most expected batter Suryakumar Yadav failed to make an impact on the scoreboard and went back for 14.

India’s star batter Kohli played an anchoring inning and hit his fourth half-century in the tournament. Hardik Pandya, who started patiently, produced some fireworks towards the end. Pandya smashed 63 off just 33-balls and helped India to post a competitive total of 168/6 in 20 overs. For England, Chris Jordan starred with a three-wicket haul.

England in response had a terrific start as its skipper Butler and his partner Hales attacked the Indian bowling unit from the very beginning. Both batters played ruthlessly and smashed the ball to all corners. Butler (80*) and Hales (86*) hit commanding fifties and made a mockery of the chase as they romped home with four overs to spare.