India defeats Australia by 24 runs to set up the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final against England

India qualified for the semi-final of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup as the Men in Blue defeated Australia by 24 runs on Monday at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia.

After winning the toss and choosing to field first, Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh handed the ball to the returning Mitchell Starc who bowled a pretty tight first over with the exception of a flick that raced to the fence after meeting Rohit Sharma’s blade.

In the second over, Virat Kohli was struggling to get off the mark and tried to play a short ball in the air which was caught by Tim David who put in a brilliant effort of running back 25 metres from mid-on.

While Rishabh Pant also started cautiously like Kohli, the Indian skipper stamped his authority in the third over against Starc as he started with two consecutive maximums, the first one over the extra-cover region and the second one was also towards the same region but the ball hit the cushions instead of flying over it. 

The third ball of the over was smacked over mid-on for four runs while the fourth delivery was smacked over deep mid-wicket for a 96-metre maximum. On the last ball of the over, Sharma top-edged a full toss and the ball flew above the wicket-keeper’s head and landed in the stands.

Pat Cummins was handed the fifth over and Sharma showed his disdain against the fast bowler by going down on his knees and smashing the ball straight to the roof for a 100-metre maximum on the first ball of the over.

The rain gods interrupted Rohit’s innings for a short while but the Indian skipper resumed normalcy when he sliced the ball and the ball dashed to the fence for four runs followed by a streaky boundary as the ball flew off Sharma’s bat and ended on the other side of the boundary.

On the last ball of the over, Sharma brought up his half-century inside 19 balls followed by another brilliant over by Hazlewood in which Pant scored his first boundary of the innings towards the deep mid-wicket region.

Adam Zampa’s introduction into the bowling attack immediately after the powerplay overs was responded in the best manner by Pant as the southpaw stepped out and smashed the ball out of the park for his first maximum of the innings. Zampa’s figures were worsened by Sharma who swept the ball over the cow corner for another maximum later in the over.

Marcus Stoinis was the next bowler to be punished as Sharma first dissected the gap between the deep square leg and deep mid-wicket to perfection for four runs followed by a pull shot over the deep square leg fielder for a maximum. 

The best shot of the evening was yet to be played though as Sharma stepped out and smashed the next ball over the extra-cover region for another maximum. After proving to be pretty expensive, Stoinis removed Pant as the wicket-keeper batter found Hazlewood who got under the ball and pouched the catch safely.

Suryakumar Yadav was the next batter to arrive out in the middle and cut the ball to the fence for a boundary against Zampa. On the first ball of the next over, Sharma just cleared Starc at short fine-leg for another boundary against Stoinis followed by another pull shot which bounced just before the fence for another boundary.

Cummins bowled a relatively quiet 11th over but Suryakumar’s flexible wrists allowed him to bag a boundary on the penultimate ball followed by a maximum over the extra-cover region. Starc was handed the 12th over and the left-arm fast bowler bowled a brilliant yorker to dismiss the Indian captain on a score of 92 runs off 41 balls.

Starc bowled a bouncer to Shivam Dube who got off the mark with an upper-cut that raced to the fence. In Zampa’s over, Dube swept the ball over the square-leg region for his first maximum of the day. 

The Chennai Super Kings power-hitter kept the show going against Stoinis with a straight drive that dashed to the fence for four runs and Suryakumar ably supported him by smashing the ball out of the park over the long-on region later in the over.

Suryakumar kept the show going with a boundary on the first ball of Starc’s last over but later lost his wicket to a ball dangled outside the off stump as Matthew Wade completed the catch behind the stumps.

A quiet over from Hazlewood ended his spell with brilliant figures of 1/14 and Zampa could have taken his first wicket as well in his last over but skipper Marsh fumbled the ball and dropped Hardik Pandya’s catch.

Cummins was bowling a brilliant 18th over of the innings but Pandya somehow squeezed a boundary as he swatted the ball away over the extra-cover region for four runs procuring 10 runs from the over in total.

Stoinis was handed the responsibility of bowling the penultimate over and Pandya welcomed him with two consecutive maximums, the first flying over extra cover while the second was hit straight over the bowler’s head. Dube also tried to clear the ball over the deep mid-wicket region but David Warner’s safe hands ended his innings at a score of 28 runs off 22 balls. 

Ravindra Jadeja smacked his first maximum of the match against Cummins in the last over helping India put 205 runs on the board, the highest score against Australia in T20 World Cup history.

Arshdeep Singh started well against Warner and produced an inside edge which ran past Pant and straight to the fence but the outside edge on the last ball of the over was pouched by Surkyakumar in the slip cordon dismissing the Delhi Capitals ace.

Jasprit Bumrah could have dismissed skipper Marsh on a duck but Pant failed to reach the ball and wasn’t aware of the run-out opportunity as well which angered Rohit and Bumrah. The Australian skipper scored two boundaries in Arshdeep’s over sandwiched by a dropped catch by Arshdeep as the ball burst through his hands in the follow-through.

Marsh ended the third over of the innings with the first maximum as he heaved the short ball towards the leg side and the ball ended up on the other side of the boundary line.

Head, too, hit his first boundary of the innings off Bumrah’s first ball of the second over over the point region followed by another boundary towards the mid-wicket region. A full-toss later in the over allowed Head to procure another boundary as the southpaw hit the ball through the off-side for four runs.

Axar Patel was once again handed the ball in the powerplay overs and Marsh continued to bag boundaries with a well-timed shot that flew over deep backward square leg for a maximum followed by another four which just beat Kuldeep Yadav at square leg.

Pandya was the next to be handed the bowling duties and Head scored the first six of the innings with the ball flying over long-on before opening up his arms and smashing another maximum over the mid-wicket region helping Australia score 65 runs in the powerplay overs.

After the powerplay overs, Kuldeep Yadav tightened up the bowling, giving away only 4 runs in the 7th over. Surprisingly, Pandya continued from the other end and Head continued to target his match-up with a four down the ground followed by another maximum over the mid-wicket region.

Kuldeep once again put pressure on the current World Champions in the ODI format by conceding 4 runs in his first five balls forcing Marsh to play an elevated sweep shot which was caught brilliantly by Axar at deep backward square leg breaking the 81-run partnership.

In the next over, Head continued to punish Pandya with a cut that raced off to the fence followed by another four courtesy of a misfield by Axar who couldn’t believe that the ball burst through his hands. After bringing up his half-century inside 24 balls, Head found a gap between point and short third-man to procure another boundary taking Australia to 99/2 at the half-way mark.

Glenn Maxwell kept the runs flowing after the drinks break as he slapped two fours and a six in his first four deliveries with two of those coming via reverse-sweeps against Jadeja. Kuldeep was tasked with bowling another economical over and the left-arm wrist-spinner did the job yet again conceding 3 runs off his first five deliveries before Head slapped the ball over the long-off fielder for another maximum.

Axar’s re-introduction from the other end worked wonders for the Men in Blue as he conceded only 3 runs from his second over escalating the required run-rate immensely. The pressure put on by Axar helped Kuldeep as he castled Maxwell cutting short the power hitter’s innings at a score of 20 runs off 12 balls. Head, India’s biggest sworn enemy from the last calendar year, smacked a four through the mid-wicket region ending Kuldeep’s brilliant spell of 2/24. 

Axar continued to prove why he was being selected ahead of other players in T20Is by dismissing Stoinis on the first ball of the 15th over as the Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder reverse-swept the ball straight to Pandya at short third-man who juggled the ball before grasping the catch in a non-chalant manner.

Head procured another boundary through the extra-cover region making it his favorite spot to bag boundaries before Arshdeep was re-introduced into the bowling attack. The left-arm fast bowler was doing well against Head but Pant let go of 4 byes which put a dark spot on an otherwise brilliantly bowled over.

Bumrah returned with a bang as a slower delivery undid Head who skied the ball in the air and Sharma safely pouched the catch to dismiss the Sunrisers Hyderabad opening batter at a score of 76 runs off 43 balls.

Wade was the next batter and the No.7 was dismissed early on in his innings by Arshdeep as Kuldeep dived forward at short third-man and completed the catch safely. Then, David decided to go after Arshdeep smashing a four and a six down the ground before finding Bumrah at short third-man as India took control of the proceedings for the umpteenth time in the match. 

In the penultimate over, Cummins slapped a slower delivery by Bumrah over the mid-wicket region for a maximum before trying the same thing against Pandya in the last over but the Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper found Jadeja who dropped the catch.

Pandya closed out the last over with ease sealing a 24-run win against the Kangaroos who could be knocked out of the tournament if Afghanistan defeats Bangladesh in the last Super Eight stage fixture.