India were annihilated by England in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup, being played in Australia. England will now meet Pakistan for the World Cup trophy.
Batting first, India managed 168-6 in 20 overs with Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya 50 and 63 respectively.
England achieved the target without losing any wickets with four overs to spare. Alex Hales was unbeaten at 86 from 47 balls, while skipper Buttler remained not out at 80 from 49 balls.
Pakistan have already secured a place in the final after they stunned New Zealand in the first semi-final.
Hales and Buttler added 170 runs for the first wicket, which is a record for England in T20 cricket.
Reacting to his side’s humiliating defeat, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said after the match, “Pretty disappointed how it turned up today. We batted well at the backend to get that score. We were not upto the mark with the ball, we couldn’t turn up today. It’s all about handling the pressure in knockout games. All these guys have played enough to understand that. I thought it swung a bit in the first over, but not from the right areas. I thought we held our nerve and kept executing our plans. Couldn’t do that today.”
Buttler, for his part, said, “I think the character we have has been amazing. We came here very excited, there was a very good feeling. Everyone stood up today. We always want to start fast and aggressively. Hales used the dimensions well and he has shown his form. It’s important to enjoy this, it was a brilliant performance from us. I think we need to give special credit to Jordan, to bowl 3 overs at the death coming into the semi-final, it was a tough job.”
Hales was declared Player Of The Match for his gutsy innings.
