India have booked their spot in the T20 World Cup 2026 final after pulling off a thrilling seven-run win against England in an absolute thriller of a semi-final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Sanju Samson blasted his way to 89 from just 42 deliveries, getting solid support from his teammates as India posted a massive 253/7 in their 20 overs after England captain Harry Brook decided to bowl first. England fought tooth and nail in their reply, staying in the hunt until the very last ball thanks mainly to 22-year-old Jacob Bethell’s stunning 105 off 48 balls. Some brilliant final-over bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, plus Axar Patel’s amazing work in the field, saw India squeeze through. They’ll now take on New Zealand in Sunday’s final showdown. India Reached Final In A High Scored Thriller Despite Bethell’s Century .
TOSS-
England won the toss and chose to bowl first.
PLAYING XI-
India (Playing XI):
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
England (Playing XI):
Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
INDIA-
The powerplay might have gone completely differently for the home team if Brook had grabbed a straightforward catch in the following over to dismiss Samson when he was on just 15. But Samson wasn’t about to waste that reprieve. Making the most of those field restrictions, he went after Jofra Archer before wrapping up the powerplay with a few more boundaries off Sam Curran’s bowling.
Samson kept the party going by drilling Adil Rashid through the covers before smoothly launching Liam Dawson over long-off for a maximum to notch up consecutive fifties. Ishan Kishan was doing his bit at the other end too. The southpaw smacked Jamie Overton for a couple of boundaries and cleared the boundary rope off Dawson as well, making sure the spinner leaked 19 runs in his opening over. Both batsmen put on quite a display for the packed Mumbai audience before Rashid finally broke through against the flow when Kishan mishit one and got caught at the midway point.
But that hardly slowed down the carnage as Samson greeted Overton’s return with a six before Shivam Dube launched a couple of balls into the stands off Rashid as India looked set for a huge total. Samson then added another maximum to his collection by taking on Archer, but when he tried to clear the boundary again off Jacks, the opener finally got his timing wrong and departed for 89.
Rashid did offer England a glimmer of hope when he picked up the crucial wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, but India still managed to rack up 63 runs in the last four overs. Hardik Pandya found his rhythm by collecting three boundaries off Overton, though it was a wayward over from Archer who kept missing his length that really hurt England as Tilak Varma smashed him for three sixes.
ENGLAND-
Basically, Hardik hit two more sixes in the last over to take India past 250, and then he got the first wicket with the ball the same way. Phil Salt basically hit one badly, then Bumrah came in and fooled Brook with a slow ball that he played too early, and Axar Patel took the same catch running backwards. Bethell surely brought England back into the game by hitting three sixes off Varun Chakaravarthy’s first three balls, but their happiness did not last long. Moreover, the spinner quickly responded by bowling out Jos Buttler, which meant England’s top three batsmen were all out during the Powerplay itself.
Tom Banton actually hit two big sixes off Axar and looked dangerous. But when he definitely tried for a third six, his stumps got scattered instead. We are seeing that England only managed to make 119 runs at the halfway point, and this was mainly because of Bethell’s good work. As per the match situation, the left-handed batsman kept troubling the Indian bowlers regarding his batting style, changing his stance again and again to score runs easily. England needed to score further 135 runs in the second half, but the task itself was difficult with Bumrah having three overs remaining. Surely one over came very early where England remained safe and moreover scored 12 runs without any damage.
In the next three overs, England actually came back strongly as Bethell and Jacks definitely played very aggressive cricket. Basically Chakaravarthy had the same tough day giving away 64 runs for just 1 wicket, and Axar also leaked boundaries the same way. Also, basically when things were changing, Axar made the same great effort near the boundary and took a catch that broke the partnership.
As overs passed, England stayed ahead of India in runs, but Bumrah’s two remaining overs were a threat that could further damage their chase itself. We are seeing that the first over in the 16th cost India only eight runs, so England had to make up for this loss in other places. Arshdeep bowled an excellent over but Bethell hit a six and four at the end, which further reduced the target to 45 runs from 18 balls itself.
The match was surely balanced on a knife’s edge when Bumrah bowled an excellent over, giving away only six runs. Moreover, this performance put India in a strong position to win the game. As per the match situation, Bethell tried to make the chase exciting by hitting a six on the first ball of the second-last over, which also completed his century. As per the match situation, Hardik made a strong comeback regarding his bowling performance by giving away only three runs in the next five balls. As per the match situation, Dube had to defend 30 runs in the last over regarding India’s place in the final for the second time in a row.
MINI SCORE CARD-
India actually scored 253 runs in 20 overs with Sanju Samson making 89 runs and Shivam Dube getting 43 runs. England definitely tried hard but could only make 246 runs, so India won by 7 runs.
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