India Edges England in T20 WC Thriller, Politicians Laud Team's Grit

Defending champions India, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, defeated England by seven runs in a high-scoring thriller at Wankhede Stadium to book their place in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 against New Zealand.

A blistering 89 off 42 balls from Sanju Samson laid the foundation for India's huge total of 253/7 in the first innings. However, England stayed in contention for most of the chase thanks to a brilliant century by Jacob Bethell.

In the end it was the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah that proved to be the differentiating moment as India eventually won the match by a slim seven-run margin.

Speaking to ANI, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday expressed happiness over India reaching the final of the World Cup, calling it a terrific match. He praised the Indian players' performance, acknowledged that England also played well and expressed confidence that India will win the final.

"It is a matter of great delight. India has entered the final. It was a terrific match. Our players performed well. England was good too. India will win the final too," Devendra Fadnavis said.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, also expressed similar sentiment, saying, "There is immense joy. All our players played a splendid game. Heartiest congratulations. Now we will surely win the final too."

BJP MP Anurag Thakur praised the Indian team for reaching the final of the T20 World Cup 2026, calling their performance unprecedented. He said the match was very close but highlighted India's excellent fielding, batting, and bowling.

"The Indian team's reaching the final shows that what the Indian team has done in cricket is unprecedented. Played a splendid match... the match was very close, but there was splendid fielding, splendid batting and splendid bowling," Anurag Thakur said.

Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs.

Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket.

With England appearing to be on course for victory, the match's turning point came when Jasprit Bumrah delivered a brilliant 18th over, conceding just six runs while England needed 45 from the final three overs at the start of it. Following his effort, Hardik Pandya further tightened the pressure with an excellent penultimate over, giving away only nine runs and dismissing Sam Curran.

While Bethell continued to march on and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, England ended seven runs short of India's target, at 246/7.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/33 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (1/35 in 3 overs) amd Hardik Pandya (2/38 in 4 overs) were the standout performers with the ball.

The final is set to take place in Ahmedabad, where India will look to continue their impressive run and secure another major ICC title by defeating New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8.

- ANI