India vs England, the semifinal that crowned last two champions:IND ahead 3-2 in T20 WC meetings, won last 5 games against English team

India and England are set to lock horns in the T20 World Cup for the third consecutive semifinal. The bigwigs of the cricketing world previously faced each other in the ‘last-four’ in 2022 and 2024. What’s surprising is that both times the team which won this clash went on to lift the T20 World Cup title in the final. The first-ever India vs England match in the T20 World Cup is etched in folklore after Yuvraj Singh slammed six sixes in an over. Since then, each chapter of this rivalry has been a memorable encounter. Let’s take a look at how clashes in the past have turned out for the heavyweights and which team holds the edge overall. 2022 T20 WC semifinal: England’s 10-wicket mauling despite Kohli, Pandya’s fifty On November 10, 2022, the English team won the toss and opted to field first. After a defeat to Ireland in the tournament, England was looking to bounce back, and they did it with command against India. On the flat surface of Adelaide, Chris Jordan damaged the Indian batting lineup the most with his 3-wicket haul. Meanwhile, Adil Rashid strangled runs in his spell, giving away just 20 runs in 4 overs. Liam Livingstone also conceded 21 runs in three overs. Rohit had a slow start, and then Virat Kohli slammed 50 in 40 balls. However, he got out, and when Men in Blue were searching for partnerships, Hardik Pandya’s 63 off 33 balls gave hope that the fight was still on. Although the hope was not lasting, captain Jos Buttler and Alex Hales came out to bat and just crushed the India fans’ expectation of racing to the semis. Together, they built a 166-run opening partnership. Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar proved exceedingly expensive, leaking runs at an economy of over 10/over. 2024 T20 WC semifinal: India spinners stun England batters after Rohit’s half-century In the second semifinal on June 27, 2024, Jos Buttler took the same shot as in the previous semi-final meeting and opted to field first at Providence. However, India was riding on a red-hot form, and Rohit Sharma capitalised on it. He slammed 57 in 39 while Virat Kohli (9) and Pant (4) departed cheaply. Suryakumar Yadav stormed with 47(36), followed by Hardik Pandya’s 9-ball-17 cameo that led India to 171 in 20 overs. Chris Jordan again bagged 3 wickets, but England fell short of the spinners as Adil Rashid was most effective with 25 runs in 4 overs. Apart from Harry Brook (25), no one could survive the 30s as Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel started dismantling England batters one by one after Bumrah’s breakthrough at the start. With 3 wickets each for Kuldeep and Axar, India bundled the English team for 103 in 16.4 overs. The rivalry that crowned the last two champions In the last two semifinals in 2022 and 2024, the winner of the India vs England clash took the T20 World Cup trophy home. England won the 2022 WC final against Pakistan by 5 wickets, while India sealed the thriller, beating South Africa by 7 runs. India ahead in overall T20 World Cup head-to-head When it comes to head-to-head in T20 World Cups, India leads the charge with three wins in five fixtures. Three of these were the group clashes, while two of them are the semifinal matchups that have been discussed earlier. So it can be said that in a high-stakes clash, the Men in Blue have the edge. In the group stage meetups, India have won 2 times, but the most memorable of them all is the 2007 Group E clash, in which Yuvraj Singh and Durban both etched their names in cricket history. How Andrew Flintoff fueled Yuvraj’s carnage against Stuart Broad? Yuvraj Singh hitting six sixes in an over to Stuart Broad is an unforgettable moment for every Indian cricket fan who grew up watching cricket in the 2000s. However, only a few of them know that it was Andrew Flintoff’s words that fueled his carnage. During an Instagram Live chat with former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh once said, “I think Freddie bowled two good balls, and he bowled a yorker which I managed to hit for a boundary. Then he told me that this was a dash shot; he got pretty elaborative. He said I’m gonna cut your throat off.” “Then I replied, saying you see this bat in my hand? You know where I’m gonna hit you with this bat? I remember I was so angry when I hit Broadie for six sixes, I looked at Dimitri Mascarenhas, and then I looked at Freddie,” he further added. Mascarenhas had hit Yuvraj Singh for five sixes in a single over during a series in England earlier that year, and it had deeply hurt the Indian all-rounder. India posted a 219-run total with Gautam Gambhir’s (58) and Virender Sehwag’s (68) fifties. But it was Irfan Pathan (3 wickets), RP Singh (2 wickets), and Harbhajan Singh’s (1 wicket) consistent bowling effort that took India into the semis. Later on, they triumphed over Australia and Pakistan to win the first T20 World Cup title.