We witnessed a high scoring thriller in Mumbai where it was a game of margins and in the end, it was England who fell short by 7 runs to bow out of the competition. India held their nerves and played the pressure moments a tad better while England despite not starting that well kept fighting till the end and almost pulled off a record chase. But India through Jasprit Bumrah survived and made their way into the finals. There were areas where England fell a little short and we will try and decipher three of them for their loss to India.
Dropped catch of Sanju Samson by Harry Brook amidst other fielding lapses hurt England.Â
India were asked to bat first on a flat deck in Mumbai and Sanju Samson was on the charge as he took on the English bowling straightaway. Abhishek after hitting two boundaries fell cheaply again but Samson was looking good to get a big one and he did get a big one as well. But it could have been so different for Samson and India had the Englishmen held onto their chances and any dropped catch in this big game could cost them big time.
It was the start of the 3rd over and the score was 24 with Samson batting on 15* and he flat batted it straight to mid-on at a comfortable height for captain Harry Brook and he put down a sitter. What a big moment in the game it turned out to be as Samson made them pay and how. He scored a total of 89 off 42 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes to his name. So, after the dropped catch he made 74 runs and created partnerships with others and this was the biggest let-off in the game that helped India. Brook was quick to admit his mistake later.
Thereafter, there were misfields in the field and Tom Banton in the 18th over of the innings made another elementary error as he ran in from long-on and got to the ball but dropped it as Hardik Pandya got a life just after Dube was run out. Pandya made them pay in the end by striking towering sixes off Jacks in the final over. But the Brook mistake was the costliest of them all and catches win matches at the end of the day. India were better in the field and outfielded the England team with catches and ground fielding and that was the main difference.
Losing 3 wickets in powerplay while chasing pegged England a bit.Â
England had to come out all guns blazing in the powerplay to lay the base for a possible win. To be fair, they started well and were quickly off the blocks to push for the target. But the target was huge and they had to go for it and in the process they were bound to lose wickets. They maintained a healthy run rate in powerplay as they were forced to but lost wickets which kind of dented their progress a little.
Philip Salt was the first to go as Hardik picked up his first wicket. Thereafter, Brook and Buttler tried to forge a partnership and keep up with the rate. They took the score to 38 before Brook was outfoxed Bumrah with Axar taking a blinder of a catch in the deep. Jacob Bethell came out to bat next and was on the move straightaway taking on all the bowlers especially Varun Chakaravarthy. Varun had another game to forget and a tournament as well. But Jos Buttler’s form was patchy and he looked that way played his shots but went for an unnecessary slog and was bowled inside the powerplay.
To put things into perspective, England were 68/3 in 6 overs of powerplay while India were 67/1 in 6 overs. So, the comparison was same but England lost those two extra wickets despite batting deep and it meant they were behind the game. No doubt England roared back and nailed the middle phase matching with India and staying with them till 10 overs and after 15 overs, they were ahead. Credit to Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks for giving India a mighty scare, but early wickets and a bit of lack of form from top order meant that England fell few runs short and made India sweat.
Jofra Archer & Sam Curran having tough day with ball in hand hampered England.Â
Another important aspect to note that both Jofra Archer and Sam Curran were taken to the cleaners by the Indian batters. Bowling first, England needed early wickets to dent India and while Abhishek fell to Jacks, India continued to come hard at the England bowlers and both Archer and Curran wilted under pressure. Other bowlers were hit for runs no doubt on a flat pitch, but these two went for humongous runs in the end.
Archer bowled decently with the new ball keeping things relatively under check. But later in the death overs, he went for runs as Hardik and Tilak Varma went after him, In fact, Tilak came in and hit Archer for 3 sixes in his 21 off 7 balls as Archer continued to bowl slot balls. He did get Tilak next through yorker at the stumps clean bowled but the damage was done as he went for 61 in 4 overs for one wicket as this was the third time he had these kind of figures in T20Is against India.
Sam Curran, the ever-reliable death bowler for England was smashed left, right and centre. Fresh off his claims of silencing the crowd in Mumbai, Sam came and was clobbered by the Indians. He too bowled a lot of length deliveries in the slot and was hit with disdain. Sam who is known for being death bowling was taken to the cleaners as he conceded a half-century as well. It was a tough day for all the bowlers of both teams. But these two were just not up to the mark.
England will go back heartbroken and address these issues quickly to come back stronger in subsequent matches. They did not play very badly, but were beaten by the better team on the night in India.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, India books their place in the summit clash on Sunday night in Ahmedabad while England bow out with their heads held high. So, we are all set for the grand finale of ICC T20 World Cup 2026 where New Zealand and India will lock horns on Sunday night. Two of the best teams have reached the finale, we have to agree with that. The team that holds nerve shall win this contest. This can go either way at this stage.
Also Read: ICC T20 WC 2026: Sanju Samson’s Sparkling Knock Helps India Knock Out England.