India crashed out of T20 World Cup 2022 after losing to England by ten wickets at Adelaide Oval. Rohit Sharma’s men were no match for a spirited England. Asked to chase 169, England made a mockery of the target, destroying the Indian bowlers one by one to win this game in just 16 overs.  

Jos Buttler and Alex Hales took upon the Indian bowlers with surgical precision, signalling their intent in the first over itself as the former struck three fours against Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With no hint of movement on an already-used surface, both Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep struggled to exert any kind of pressure on the English spinner.

Taking a leaf out of England’s playbook, Rohit Sharma employed Axar Patel early in the third over, but the result was not much different. Buttler cleared his leg and lifted a shortish delivery over the cover. It was then Mohammed Shami’s turn to bear the brunt, as he saw his first over going for 11. England were positioned at 63-0 by the end of the Powerplay.

Although they were already way ahead in terms of the asking rate, there was a semblance of competitiveness still present in the game, and a wicket soon after the field restriction was eased would have helped India. Except, the wicket never came. R Ashwin, the last option that Sharma went to, also suffered the same fate, conceding 12 off his first over. 

The intensity of the attack only increased as the match progressed, with both Buttler and Hales racing away to their half-centuries. The winning shot for England came via Jos Buttler, who cleared his front leg and launched a fullish delivery over the bowler’s head.  

Earlier in the game, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma again failed to get India off to a great start, with the former being undone by extra pace, and the latter just throwing away his wicket after playing 28 balls. Virat Kohli piled up runs but couldn’t really press the accelerator pedal when needed. It was all due to Hardik Pandya’s raw brilliance that India were able to reach a respectable total.  

“It’s pretty disappointing how we turned up today. I thought we still batted pretty well at the back end to get to that score, but we were not good enough with the ball,” said Rohit Sharma after the match. “It was definitely not a wicket where a team can come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn’t turn up today. When it comes to knockout stages, it’s all about handling the pressure.” 

Lead Image: @BCCI