Much to India’s relief, England strangely opted to bowl first on a dodgy, difficult surface at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday. And as expected, they faced the consequences as India romped to the final of the T20 World Cup, winning by 68 runs.

India will meet South Africa in the final in Bridgetown on Saturday.

Led by captain Rohit Sharma (57 off 39 balls) and his crucial partnership of 73 with Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 35 balls), India posted 171/7, a total that was quite daunting on that kind of a wicket. In reply, Axar Patel rocked England with the vital scalp of skipper Jos Buttler as well as those of Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali.

Jasprit Bumrah foxed Phil Salt with a slow off-cutter, before Kuldeep Yadav (3/19) ran through the English middle order dismissing Sam Curran, Harry Brook and Chris Jordan. England were finally bundled out for an embarrassing 103 in 16.4 overs.

It wasn’t easy for the Indian batsmen as well when England spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone were operating. Some of the balls kept perilously low, while there was sharp turn at times and the ball gripped on the surface as well.

The overhead conditions remained sunny right through once the game resumed following a rain-forced stoppage after eight overs, with India on 65/2 then. Batting expectedly became even tougher in the second half, while England batters’ perennial weakness against spin and difficulty in adjusting to these conditions made it a harrowing time out for them out there.

Earlier, Virat Kohli flopped once again, failing to reach double figures on yet another occasion. But Rohit, having regained form in the previous game against Australia, ensured he stood up on that wicket.

Rohit was at his sensible best as his innings and that of Surya were priceless for India after they had lost Kohli and Rishabh Pant for just 40 on the board in the sixth over.

They kept rotating the strike against Rashid and Livingstone, before taking on Sam Curran in the 13th over, which yielded India 19 runs. Surya’s terrific placement over point was the first six of that over before Rohit picked Curran over short fine-leg for the second maximum to also register his second straight half-century. Before that, the India captain had smoked Livingstone over long-on for his first six.

Unfortunately for India, the low bounce and slowness of the pitch went on to have the better of Rohit. Rashid bowled a googly which seemed to stop a bit after pitching and kept low as well to rattle Rohit’s stumps. Soon after, Surya too perished off Jofra Archer’s slower one.

But England bowlers weren’t too diligent with their use of the slower ball. Hardik Pandya picked them and smashed Jordan for back-to-back sixes in the 18th over.