KOLKATA — Defending champion and co-host India secured the last semifinal spot at cricket’s T20 World Cup after a five-wicket win over West Indies in the Super Eights on Sunday with four balls remaining.
After West Indies lost the toss and posted a challenging 195-4, opener Sanju Samson led India to 199-5 in 19.2 overs with a belligerent unbeaten 97 off 50 balls in front of a home crowd of 68,000 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens in India.
India's highest-ever successful chase at the T20 World Cup set up a semifinal clash against unpredictable England in Mumbai on Thursday.
New Zealand will meet 2024 runner-up South Africa in the first semifinal at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. South Africa stayed perfect at the tournament after beating Zimbabwe by five wickets earlier Sunday.
India finished second in Group 1 behind South Africa. West Indies failed to advance after finishing third in the group.
Jason Holder (37 not out) and Rovman Powell (34 not out) shared a 76-run unbroken partnership as every West Indies batter reached double figures. Opener Roston Chase top-scored with 40 runs off 25 balls, and Shimron Hetmyer smashed a 12-ball 27, with two of his team’s 10 sixes.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah took 2-36 in four overs, including the wickets of Chase and Hetmyer.
(AP)
Summarised scores
WEST INDIES 195-4 in 20 overs (Roston Chase 40, Jason Holder 37 not out, Rovman Powell 34 not out, Shai Hope 32, Shimron Hetmyer 27, Sherfane Rutherford 14; Jasprit Bumrah 2-36).
INDIA 199-5 in 19.2 overs (Sanju Samson 97 not out, Tilak Varma 27, Suryakumar Yadav 18, Hardik Pandya 17, Abhishek Sharma 10, Ishan Kishan 10; Jason Holder 2-38, Shamar Joseph 2-42).
India won West Indies by five wickets.
Toss: India elected to field.
Player-of-the-Match: Sanju Samson.
Umpires: Alex Wharf, Chris Gaffaney.
TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough.
Reserve Umpire: Chris Brown.
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle.
