India's T20 WC Semifinal Thriller: BCCI Secretary Hails Unstoppable Team

Defending champions India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, defeated England by seven runs in a high-scoring thriller at Wankhede and sealed their place in the T20 WC final against New Zealand.

Speaking to ANI, the BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia praised India's strong team performance, stating that if the side continues playing at the same level, it will be difficult for any opponent to stop them. He also highlighted the contributions of Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah, expressing confidence that India can go on to win the tournament.

"If the team continues to perform like this, no one can stop India from winning. We hope that India will win. Axar, Bumrah, and everyone played very well. It was a very good team performance because of which this victory was achieved."

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.

Bethell continued to march on and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, but not to the finishing line, with England ending 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