PROVIDENCE, Guyana: Left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel took three wickets apiece as India thrashed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday to set up a T20 World Cup final against South Africa.
England, set a challenging target of 172, slumped to 103 all out inside 17 overs, wrist spinner Kuldeep finishing with figures of 3-19 and the orthodox Patel 3-23.
India, bidding for their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy, will now play South Africa — also unbeaten at this tournament after a nine-wicket hammering of Afghanistan in their semifinal — in Saturday’s final in Barbados.
The Kensington Oval clash will also be India’s second appearance in successive global showpiece games after they lost on home soil to Australia in last year’s 50-over World Cup final.
“It’s very satisfying to win this game,” said India skipper Rohit Sharma after his team gained revenge for a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
“We worked really hard as a unit. To win like that was a great effort from everybody.”
Rohit laid the foundations by top-scoring with 57 in a total of 171-7 after his side were somewhat surprisingly sent into bat by England skipper Jos Buttler.
It was the opener’s third fifty of the tournament and second in as many games following his blistering 92 against Australia.
India were 40-2 in the powerplay after Virat Kohli (nine) and Rishabh Pant (four) both fell cheaply.
But a third-wicket stand of 73 between Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (47), spanning a rain delay of over an hour, turned the tide.
Patel, the player of the match, said: “I knew that the wicket was stopping and had something for the bowlers...Our batters told us the pitch wasn’t easy to hit the ball. We felt it (171) was a good total.”
Defeat meant the only Test side that England had beaten at this event were co-hosts the West Indies, with the title-holders also losing to Australia and South Africa.
“India outplayed us, certainly,” said Buttler. “We let them maybe get 20-25 too many (runs) on a challenging surface that they played well on. They fully deserved to win.
“They’ve got some fantastic spinners. Our two (Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone) bowled well but in hindsight, probably should’ve bowled Moeen (Ali) in our innings with the way spin was playing.
“But with a good score and their brilliant bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase.
Buttler launched England’s reply with a brisk 23. When he attempted to reverse sweep Patel’s first ball, however, he clipped a gentle catch off the toe-end of the bat to wicketkeeper Pant.
Fellow opener Phil Salt was then clean bowled by Jasprit Bumrah’s well-disguised slower ball.
England then saw 34-2 become 35-3 when Patel bowled dangerman Jonny Bairstow for a duck.
Moeen was then stumped by Pant and when Sam Curran was lbw to Kuldeep, England were in dire straits at 49-5 in the ninth over.
Wickets continued to tumble and when Livingstone, the last of England’s specialist batsmen, was run out for 11 after a dreadful mix-up with Jofra Archer, England were all but beaten at 86-8.
Archer struck a couple of defiant sixes but Bumrah ended the match when he had the England paceman lbw for 21 with a low full toss.
India hammer England to book T20 World Cup final with South Africa
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India hammer England to book T20 World Cup final with South Africa

Jitesh, Kohli power Bengaluru into IPL qualifier 1

- Bengaluru chased down 228 to go second in the 10-team table in the last league match of this season
- Result pushed Gujarat Titans into third spot — they will face Mumbai Indians in the eliminator on Friday
LUCKNOW: Skipper Jitesh Sharma hammered an unbeaten 85 and Virat Kohli hit 54 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed into qualifier one of IPL playoffs with a six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday.
Bengaluru chased down 228 to go second in the 10-team table in the last league match of this season and set up a meeting with table-toppers Punjab Kings on Thursday.
The result pushed Gujarat Titans into third spot. They will face Mumbai Indians in the eliminator on Friday.
The top two teams have two shots at reaching the final on June 3 as the loser of qualifier one will face the winner of eliminator in qualifier two to decide the second finalist.
Lucknow skipper Rishabh Pant signed off with an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls in his team’s 227-3, but in reply Bengaluru achieved victory with eight balls to spare.
Kohli set up the chase with his 30-ball knock and after his departure stand-in-skipper Jitesh put on an unbeaten stand of 107 with Mayank Agarwal, who hit 41, to trump Lucknow, who were already out of the playoffs.
The 36-year-old Kohli, who earlier this month announced his Test retirement alongside Rohit Sharma, went past 9,000 runs for Bengaluru — the most by a batsman for one team in men’s T20 cricket. The next is Rohit for Mumbai with 6,060.
Kohli put on 61 runs with opening partners Phil Salt, who made 30, but the chase wobbled after Lucknow hit back with wickets. New Zealand quick Will O’Rourke took two in two.
Jitesh turned things around with his first IPL fifty. He hit eight fours and six sixes, including the winning hit over the fence, in his 33-ball knock.
Earlier Pant, who struggled for runs after being brought by Lucknow for a record $3.21 million in the auction, saved his best for last as he hit his season-best score.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, a swashbuckling left-hander, reached his 100 in 54 balls and celebrated with a somersault. He had scored only 151 runs from 12 previous innings and averaged just 13.72.
Pant led the charge in a 152-run second-wicket stand with Mitchell Marsh, who hit 67 off 37 balls, after the captain promoted himself to number three in the batting order.
Pant, who hit 11 fours and eight sixes in his 61-ball knock, went past his previous best of 63 this season but Bengaluru and Kohli had the last laugh as they hunt for their first IPL title.
Inglis stars as Punjab grab two shots to reach IPL final

- Chasing 185 for victory, Punjab depended on a 109-run second-wicket stand between Inglis and Priyansh Arya to achieve their target
- Both teams have already secured their play-off berth along with Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the T20 tournament
JAIPUR: Australia’s Josh Inglis scored 73 to help Punjab Kings finish in the top-two moving into the IPL playoffs with a seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians on Monday.
Both the teams have already secured their play-off berth along with Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the T20 tournament.
A top-two position in the final group phase table makes Punjab grab one of the two spots in the first qualifier on May 29 and two shots at reaching June 3’ final.
Chasing 185 for victory, Punjab depended on a 109-run second-wicket stand between Inglis and Priyansh Arya to achieve their target with nine balls to spare in Jaipur.
The left-handed Arya made 62 before he departed in the 15th over and Inglis fell after his first IPL fifty with the team needing another 14 to win.
Inglis, a wicketkeeper-batsman, hit nine fours and three sixes in his 42-ball knock.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer made an unbeaten 26 off 16 balls to steer the team home.
“Every individual stepped up at the right time,” said Iyer.
“We’ve had players putting their hands up when we were in the dumps. (Coach) Ricky (Ponting) has been fantastic with player management, it’s important for me to get trust too.”
Ponting praised Iyer, who was brought for $3.17 million in November’s auction.
“It was pretty obvious with the amount of money we spent on him, we wanted him here,” said Ponting.
“He’s a man who has been so good and has a sparkle for captaincy, he has led this team superbly.”
Five-time champions Mumbai sit bottom of the top-four teams and will play the eliminator on May 30.
“We just want to play good cricket going forward, figure out the right template for the batting group,” Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya said.
“Not much panic though, we knew what was at stake.”
Gujarat’s position will depend on the final league match between Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday.
The winner of the first qualifier will enter the final, while the loser will take on the winner of the second qualifier to book their spot in the title clash.
Mumbai reached 184-7 after Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 57 off 39 deliveries to boost the total.
South Africa’s opener Ryan Rickelton hit a brisk 27 in a 44-run opening stand with Rohit Sharma, who scored 24.
Wicketkeeper Rickelton, a left-hand batter, departed in the sixth over as wickets fell at regular intervals including Rohit and England’s Will Jacks, out for 17.
Suryakumar took stock in a partnership of 44 with Pandya, who took on the opposition bowling in his 26 off 15 balls.
Pandya hit two fours and two sixes before being caught behind off South African left-arm quick Marco Jansen to put Mumbai in trouble.
Number seven Naman Dhir came out firing as he and Suryakumar, who reached his fifth half-century of the season in his 640 runs, hammered 23 off the 19th over.
Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh took down Dhir after the batsman’s 12-ball 20 at the start of the 20th and trapped Suryakumar to finish the over with two wickets and just three runs.
Marsh ton powers Lucknow to IPL upset over Gujarat

- Mitchell Marsh smashed 117 off 64 balls studded with 10 fours and eight sixes to help Lucknow post a formidable 235-2 off 20 overs
- Gujarat, who have already qualified for the playoffs, could only make 202-9 in reply at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad
AHMEDABAD: Mitchell Marsh struck his first Indian Premier League century as Lucknow Super Giants pulled off an upset 33-run win against table-toppers Gujarat Titans on Thursday.
Marsh smashed 117 off 64 balls studded with 10 fours and eight sixes to help Lucknow post a formidable 235-2 off 20 overs.
Gujarat, who have already qualified for the playoffs, could only make 202-9 in reply at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“We gave 15-20 runs extra. If we’d stopped them at 210-220 it would’ve been better, that was a huge difference,” said Gujarat skipper Shubman Gill.
“Getting momentum back will be key in the next game.”
Lucknow were playing for pride after being eliminated from the playoffs.
Gujarat lost in-form opener and the tournament’s highest run-getter Sai Sudharsan for 21, caught by Aiden Markram off Will O’Rourke, who ended with figures of 3-27.
Sudharsan’s opening partner Gill looked in good touch before he was caught in the deep by Abdul Samad off Avesh Khan for 35.
Jos Buttler (33) tried to steady the innings but was dismissed by Akash Singh in the 10th over.
Shahrukh Khan (57) and Sherfane Rutherford (38) revived hopes of a comeback but O’Rourke took two wickets in the 17th over to seal Gujarat’s fate.
“We had a lot of fun out there, T20 is fickle,” said O’Rourke.
Earlier, Marsh combined with Markram to give Lucknow a steady start, putting on 91 runs for the opening wicket after Gujarat won the toss and elected to bowl.
Markram (36) hit fellow South African Kagiso Rabada for two sixes in a row before being caught by Shahrukh near the boundary off Sai Kishore.
Marsh continued his onslaught at the other end, hitting Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan for 25 runs in his first over of the game.
The right-hander, who raced to his century off just 56 balls, was finally caught by a diving Rutherford off paceman Arshad Khan for 117.
Nicholas Pooran also impressed, making an unbeaten 56 runs off 27 balls with four fours and five sixes.
Lucknow’s struggling skipper Rishabh Pant made 16 not out.
The IPL resumed last Saturday after being paused due to a deadly conflict between India and Pakistan, forcing overseas players to revisit their season plans.
The enduring legend of Virat Kohli

- Kohli’s cricketing persona has been one of aggressiveness and intensity, always eager to join the fray and whip up his team to greater heights, more in the manner of soccer than cricket
Some cricketers possess an unmistakable presence when they walk out to bat. Vivian Richards of the West Indies was one. He swaggered, smiled, oozed confidence and menace, chewed gum and eschewed a helmet in favor of a cap. His style of entrance may have set a precedent for others to build their own individual brands as cricketers in an era of universal television coverage.
Chris Gayle, another West Indian, the self-styled “Universe Boss,” was one who did that across all formats. An imposing presence as soon as he stepped onto the cricket field, Gayle took to the T20 format very quickly, establishing himself as a free-scoring, aggressive batter to be feared. He also proved himself at Test level, capable of batting at length. In 2010, he batted almost 10 hours in scoring 333 against Sri Lanka, becoming only the fourth batsman to score two Test triples. Both Gayle and Richards now live out of the limelight, their cricketing reputations intact.
In previous eras, the great and charismatic players of the time did not have the media exposure that is available to current players. In the immediate years after 1945, Denis Compton of England and Keith Miller of Australia were two players who excited crowds with their charisma, becoming icons at a time of national recovery from war. Compton was one of the first cricketers to be used in consumer advertising, as the face of Brylcreem, a hair cream.
It is now commonplace for cricketers to endorse consumer products, other than cricket equipment. A number of them have developed their own brand values. An outstanding example of this is Virat Kohli, who has transcended his ability as a cricketer to become an international icon. His decision to retire from Test cricket, announced on Instagram on May 12 to 271 million followers, has sparked a deluge of tributes. These have focussed on his place in the game and his contribution to it, especially to Test cricket, for which he has been an outspoken champion.
In this respect, it is a disappointment to many that Kohli will not be a part of the Indian team that will play five Tests in England between June 20 and Aug. 4. Neither will his successor as captain, Rohit Sharma, who also announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 7. Both players retired from international T20 cricket after India won the T20 World Cup in June 2024, under Sharma’s captaincy. The two were different in both batting and leadership styles but have been instrumental in guiding India to recent trophy success.
Sharma retires with 4,301 runs in 67 Test matches, averaging 40.57. His recent form has been poor, having made only one 50 in 15 innings since his last Test hundred against England in Dharamsala in March 2024. Sharma was captain in 2024, when India was surprisingly beaten 3-0 at home by New Zealand and 3-1 away by Australia, where he sat out the decisive fifth Test in Sydney. In the same series, Kohli, although scoring a hundred in the first Test, endured a dip in form. His frustrations at what appeared to be waning abilities surfaced in an unseemly incident during the fourth Test at Melbourne.
At the end of the tenth over of Australia’s innings, 19-year-old debutant, Sam Konstas, walked toward his opening partner at the non-striker’s end. He was looking at his gloves, when Kohli, who was walking in the opposite direction from his fielding position, made shoulder contact with Konstas. Commentators remarked that Kohli had walked one whole pitch over to his right and appeared to have instigated the confrontation.
Kohli was sanctioned for a breach of conduct and fined 20 percent of his match fees, which he accepted. Perhaps the act was that of an aging lion attempting to curb a rising cub, of whose talent he was envious. Kohli’s cricketing persona has been one of aggressiveness, intensity, always eager to join the fray and whip up his team to greater heights, more in the manner of soccer than cricket.
This has not endeared him to opposition supporters. I have witnessed and heard comments by English supporters that have been uncomplimentary — not that Kohli has been afraid to take on opposition supporters with words and provocative gestures. There has always been a sense that he has escaped censure for transgressions and acts for which others would have received punishment.
On the field, whether fielding, captaining or batting, Kohli’s presence and actions were ones that demanded attention. His passion for Test cricket shone through, as evidenced in his retirement statement in which he said, “I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for. I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile.”
In it, Kohli scored 9,230 runs in 123 Tests to stand fourth in India’s all-time list of Test run-scorers after Tendulkar, Dravid and Gavaskar. He also captained India in 68 of his Tests, winning 40 of them, which makes him the country’s most successful leader in the format. Such a record is a reflection not only of his hunger for runs, but his desire to win and for those around him to strive for excellence. His own commitment to physical fitness has become legendary and aspirational for young Indians, who seek to emulate his appearance.
It is not clear if there was any single reason for Kohli’s decision to retire. One consideration is form. The Test hundred in Australia last November was his first in 15 innings in the previous 16 months. In Australia, he scored 190 runs in nine innings, averaging just 23.75, which compares with a final Test average of 46.85. Since January 2020, he has averaged 30.72, scoring only three centuries in 39 Tests. Another consideration was the curbing, by the national board, of the size and composition of the support groups for players while on tour. One factor that does not seem to have been widely discussed is the impact of Sharma’s retirement.
Of course, Kohli has not slipped into the shadows. In IPL 2025, he has scored more than 500 runs and he still wishes to play ODI cricket for India. His retirement appears to be a carefully managed process. Off the field, his brand value and product endorsement strategy has been carefully curated to mirror his fitness-oriented lifestyle, fashion sense, family orientation and appeal across the whole Indian demographic. Kohli has also invested in a number of start-up ventures to ensure exposure outside of mainstream advertising. Unlike other famous cricketers, he will not be living quietly in retirement.
There is little doubt that Virat Kohli has an aura about him on and off the pitch. He leaves a huge gap in the Test arena and there is a worry that his advocacy of it may not be continued by his successors. Kohli has said that, “There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no-one sees but that stay with you forever.” Self-reflection is not a characteristic that springs immediately to mind about Kohli, who admits that the journey has “tested me, shaped me and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.” He leaves an indelible mark on both Indian and global cricket in which his stature was invariably imperial, not just when going out to bat.
Coach Edwards set to introduce minimum fitness standard for England players

- Former batter Edwards, who captained England in more than 200 matches, replaced coach Jon Lewis last month amid England’s efforts to revive their form ahead of this year’s 50-over World Cup in India
England coach Charlotte Edwards is rolling out a “minimum fitness standard” and calling for more accountability in the area from players after a 16-0 whitewash in the multi-format Women’s Ashes earlier this year.
Former batter Edwards, who captained England in more than 200 matches, replaced coach Jon Lewis last month amid England’s efforts to revive their form ahead of this year’s 50-over World Cup in India.
“The players are very aware there will be minimum fitness standards come this time next year... there has to be more accountability in the area,” Edwards said on Tuesday, a day before her first match as England coach.
“Before the World Cup it is about individuals improving as much as they can in that time... I am not going to set fitness standards (now) because there haven’t been any standards in place.”
Edwards said the players had spent the last few weeks working hard to improve their fielding, an aspect of the game that came under heavy criticism during their dismal Ashes campaign.
“Physically they are in a really good place as well and we have some great fielders within our T20 squad. It’s a big part of the game and we know that,” Edwards added.
England host West Indies in three T20 matches and three One-Day Internationals between May 21-June 7, with India visiting for a limited-overs tour later next month.