Buttler-Hales' Exceptional Partnership Powers England To 10-Wicket Win Against India; Set Up Final Clash Against Pakistan

IND vs ENG: England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales came out all guns blazing as they thrashed India by 10 wickets in the 2nd semi-final of T20 World Cup 2022. Hales and Buttler etched a humongous partnership to power England to their 3rd final in T20 World Cup history. They will now face off against Pakistan at MCG on November 13th. 

Chasing 169 runs to win, Alex Hales blazed through the innings while Jos Buttler played the anchor. In the second half of the innings, Buttler started smacking as well as England chased down a 170-run target with 10 wickets in hand and 4 overs remaining. 

Alex Hales remained not out after scoring 86 runs in 47 balls with 4 fours & 7 sixes, maintaining a strike rate of 182.98 while Jos Buttler smacked 80 runs in 49 balls with 9 fours & 3 sixes. Indian bowlers had a difficult day on the field and this loss would sting for a long time to come. 

In the first innings, Virat Kohli maintained his form as he brought up his 4th half-century of the tournament and guided India to 168/6 against England in the 2nd semi-final. India needs to defend a target of 169 in 20 overs to make it to the finals. 

After starting the innings with a four, KL Rahul was dismissed in the 2nd over after scoring just 5 runs. Rohit Sharma got together with Virat Kohli as these two added 47 runs in 43 balls for the 2nd wicket. Rohit was dismissed in the 9th over by Chris Jordan after scoring 27 runs in 28 balls. 

The Law of averages caught up with the man in golden form Suryakumar as the #1 T20I batter was dismissed after scoring just 14 runs in 10 balls with a four and a six. Hardik Pandya was promoted to bat at #5 ahead of Pant, and Pandya etched a partnership of 61 runs in 40 balls with Virat Kohli for the 4th wicket. 

Virat was dismissed in the 18th over after scoring 50 runs in 40 balls with 4 fours & a six. The batter brought up his 37th fifty while becoming the first batter ever to cross the 4,000 run mark in T20Is. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya started the onslaught in the last two overs and finished with 63 runs off 33 balls with 4 fours & 5 sixes.  

Hardik was dismissed via hit wicket on the last ball of the innings. Batting at #6, Rishabh Pant scored 6 runs and sacrificed his wicket in the last over to on the other end. For England, Chris Jordan picked up 3 wickets while Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid managed 1 wicket. 

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Earlier, England captain Jos Buttler won the toss & opted to bowl first against India in the 2nd semi-final match of the T20 World Cup 2022. This match is being played at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide. 

Brief Score:

• IND – 168/6 (Pandya - 63(33), Jordan - 3/43)
• ENG – 170/0 in 16 overs (Hales - 86*(47), Buttler - 80*(49))