Wankhede Stadium witnessed another epic encounter between India and England. In this match, almost 500 runs were scored in a T20 game, and in the end India won the match and reached the final of the T20 World Cup 2026.
It was a nail-biting contest between India and England where fans witnessed a high-quality game of cricket. As always, the Wankhede Stadium crowd enjoyed thrilling entertainment. It was the kind of epic semi-final every cricket fan hopes for, and in the end India held their nerve to win the match by 7 runs.
The excitement started right from the toss. England won the toss and decided to bowl first. At Wankhede Stadium, chasing is usually preferred, but at the start of the match it looked like there would be no dew and the wind was also quite strong. However, as the match progressed, dew started to come in and the pitch became better for batting.
India got a powerful start from Sanju Samson, but his partner Abhishek Sharma once again disappointed with his form. He continued his poor run throughout the T20 World Cup, apart from one game against Zimbabwe where he performed well. In many matches he failed to even reach double digits. After his early dismissal, Ishan Kishan came to the crease and along with Sanju Samson helped India build a healthy powerplay.
Once again Sanju Samson played a brilliant knock. He scored 89 runs, registering back-to-back fifties — first against West Indies and now against England. This innings showed his real potential. Everyone has always believed that Sanju has great talent, but for many years he could not prove his worth consistently. With these two knocks, he showed the entire cricketing world what he is capable of. This is the real Sanju Samson fans wanted to see.
Apart from Sanju Samson, there were valuable contributions from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, who both looked in good touch. Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya also showed their power-hitting ability with incredible batting in the middle and death overs.
There was also an important moment in the match when Hardik Pandya called for a single but the run was not completed, and Shivam Dube was run out by Harry Brook, who produced a brilliant run-out. Earlier in the innings, England captain Jos Buttler had dropped an easy catch of Sanju Samson when he was early in his innings. That drop proved very costly as Samson went on to score a big total. Buttler later admitted this in the post-match press conference.
With this powerful batting performance, India scored 253/7, which became the highest score ever in a T20 World Cup semi-final.
When England came out to chase, they lost their opener Phil Salt in the very first over, with Hardik Pandya removing the dangerous batter early. His partner Jos Buttler also looked a bit uncomfortable at the crease. At the start it seemed like he was not in great touch, but after hitting a few boundaries he started to settle in. However, he was dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy, who bowled him.
England kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but on the other side young batter Jacob Bethell was playing an outstanding innings. He started attacking the Indian bowlers and played one of the best knocks of his career. At one stage it looked like the game could turn in England’s favor, and fans began wondering if there could be a twist in the match. However, England continued to lose wickets at crucial moments.
When Jasprit Bumrah came to bowl the 18th over, the match was still open and either team could have won. But the genius of the game, the 24-carat gold bowler Jasprit Bumrah, delivered a brilliant over and conceded only 6 runs, pushing the game far away from England.
In the 19th over, Hardik Pandya also bowled brilliantly, conceding only 9 runs and taking a wicket. These two overs almost decided the result of the match.
England needed 30 runs in the final over, which is extremely difficult in T20 cricket. On the very first ball of the 20th over, Jacob Bethell was run out by Hardik Pandya, which almost confirmed India’s place in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026.
In the remaining balls, Jofra Archer hit a few sixes, but it was not enough for England. In the end, India won the semi-final by 7 runs and qualified for the final of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Now, the final will be India vs New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
