Strongman Samson takes India past West Indies to reach England semi-final

For the third time in three T20 World Cups, England meet India in the semi-finals after the co-hosts defeated the West Indies in what was effectively a quarter-final on Sunday night to seal their place in the last four and eliminate their opponents.

Sanju Samson, who lost his place in the side on the eve of the tournament but was recalled after India’s humbling defeat in the Super 8s against South Africa, dramatically rediscovered his touch and batted through the innings to finish unbeaten on 97. Chasing 196, the co-hosts appeared to be in control of the 31-year-old at the crease and fittingly it was Samson who hit the winning runs, pushing up his 50th delivery at mid-on to seal the victory by five wickets, with four balls remaining.

After West Indies came on to bat Roston Chase, who opened for the first time in Twenty20 internationals, set up their innings in partnerships of 68 off 53 with Shai Hope, and 34 off 16 with Shimron Hetmyer – the latter pair ending when Jasprit Bumrah dismissed both in a single over – while Jason Holder and Rovman Powell added 76 off the last 35 balls. But they were undermined by Hope’s pedestrian innings of 32 from 33 and by a series of fielding errors, including three missed catches.

India and England meet in Mumbai on Thursday knowing that in the past two tournaments the team that came out on top has won the title, with the English having the upper hand in Adelaide in 2022 and losing in Guyana two years ago.

The other semi-final, to be played on Wednesday, will be between New Zealand, runners-up in the English Super 8s group, and South Africa, who took top spot in their group by beating Zimbabwe by five wickets in Delhi. The teams also met in the first group stage, with South Africa having the upper hand on that occasion by seven wickets, continuing their record of 100% against the Black Caps in five meetings at the T20 World Cup, although they had not met for twelve years before this tournament.

So the weekend ends with us finally knowing not only who will face each other in the semi-finals, but also where those matches will be played. The possibility of a semi-final, and possibly the final, being moved to Colombo was extinguished when Pakistan, who had to emphatically beat Sri Lanka on Saturday, won by just five points, but such was the uncertainty surrounding the matches that tickets only went on sale last Tuesday. At the same time, and with less than two weeks’ notice, sales were also launched for two finals in two countries.

England completed their final Super 8s match on Friday and then, despite results in the first two rounds in the other group being as close to a definitive answer as possible, were forced to hang around Colombo for two days waiting for confirmation on where their semi-final would be played.

This uncertainty was further compounded by the International Cricket Council’s decision not to schedule the final round of matches in each group at the same time, which would not only have had greater sporting integrity but also allowed all four to be played on the same day. Instead, each had its own primetime broadcast, spanning three days.

It may irritate some that India had the advantage of knowing that only a reunion with Pakistan could have diverted their semi-final away from Mumbai, but not every aspect of co-hosting has been to their advantage. To please their fans, they have played their first seven matches in six cities, while of the other semi-finalists England played in four, New Zealand three and South Africa two. Should they reach the final, the Proteas will have played six of the nine matches at the venue where the final will take place, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and if India had really wanted to twist things in their favor, those would be the matches they would have wanted.

To those who watched the tournament on television, the complexity of these arrangements made little difference, but to those on the ground, who must make arrangements to be in two or even three cities at once before they can cancel all but one, the organization of the tournament must seem absurd and inexplicable, and its consequences costly. The same goes for hoteliers in host cities who will have to deal with thousands of last-minute cancellations and for those who have to arrange staff, police and catering for matches that never take place. In five years’ time, India will co-host an over-50s World Cup with Bangladesh and they can do it all again.