IPL 13: Our batters didn't take responsibility, says Smith

While Men in Blue and their fans could get flashbacks of the Ahmedabad heartbreak against Australia, which stopped India's dominant 10-match win streak courtesy tactical masterclass of skipper Pat Cummins and a brutal hammering by Travis Head, the baggage of negativity will come down and everyone will find some comfort in team's most recent wins against New Zealand and the fact their country is on a winning run across the men's, women's and age-group cricket. The baggage will feel a little lighter.

A stunning counter-attacking century from Bethell went in vain as Team India beat a valiant England by seven runs in a nail-biting semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, booking India's spot in the title clash against New Zealand at Ahmedabad, scheduled for Sunday.

India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson opened up about his on-field battle with England pacer Jofra Archer during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final, saying he had specifically prepared to face the fast bowler after past encounters where Archer had troubled him.

Bethell, who slammed his maiden international century against South Africa in an ODI back in September last year, has now joined Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Harry Brook as England's fourth all-format centurion in international men's cricket.

Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs. Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket. Bethell continued to march on even after Jacks' dismissal and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, but not to the finishing line, ending at 246/7.

Pace barrage from both the sides could decide the outcome of the second semifinal, with all three pacers, Archer, Arshdeep and Bumrah in good form.

Australia, struggling with injuries leading upto the tournament, with pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood missing out due to injuries, and Tim David and Glenn Maxwell having injury scares leading upto the tournament, crashed out in the first round of the competition following humiliating losses to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. While they defeated Ireland in their campaign opener and absolutely dismantled Oman in their final group stage match, the Aussies were far from their dominant selves. Once again questioned were raised over the team's T20I future and if they took the format seriously at all, having won only one T20WC back in 2021.

The event will feature an elite roster of over 100 participants competing across an 18-hole course. Among the participants are Indian cricket legends Yuvraj Singh, G.R Vishwanath, Venkatesh Prasad, Harbhajan Singh, Ajay Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Murali Kartik, S. Badrinath, Murali Vijay, Nikhil Chopra, together with international cricketers Eoin Morgan, Michael Vaughan and David Lloyd.

Tejal Salve, a native of Jalna, Maharashtra, was recently inducted into the Vijayi Bharat Foundation in Ahmedabad and continued to make waves as she showcased near-perfect technical execution and earned her spot in the team for the continental event.

Despite not playing an absolutely perfect game of cricket yet, England will be playing their final Super Eight match against New Zealand at Colombo on Friday. Having already sealed their spot in the semifinals following a Harry Brook masterclass against Pakistan, the Three Lions will be aiming to go into the semifinals with some more winning momentum.