Mumbai, March 5 (IANS) Jacob Bethell hammered a mesmerising century, but his effort went in vain as India rode on superb death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, which helped the hosts scamper to a seven-run victory in Semifinal 2 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, taking the hosts to their second successive final.

Bethell hammered fifty in 19 balls and 100 in 45 balls as he kept England in the hunt, the two-time champions reaching the last three overs needing 45 runs from 19 balls as they chased a massive score of 253/7 posted by India, riding on a brilliant 89 by Sanju Samson.

Bumrah bowled a brilliant 18th over, conceding only six runs, and Pandya followed it up by giving nine runs and taking the crucial wicket of Sam Curran as England’s innings disintegrated.

In the final, India will take on New Zealand at Ahmedabad as they maintain their chances of winning back-to-back titles. Morever, India are the first team to enter the final as defending champions. India have made it to the final for the fourth time in T20 World Cups, the most for any team in the history of the tournament.

Chasing a target of 254 in batting conditions that had not eased up because of dew as they were expecting, England started in whirlwind fashion, storming to 68 in the six power-play overs. However, they lost three wickets in the process, including skipper Harry Brook, who had scored a century against Pakistan in the Super 8 match.

Phil Salt (5) was the first to go, slicing a Hardik Pandya delivery that swung a bit to Axar Patel at the edge of the ring. England were 13/1 in the second over, and it became 38/2. When skipper Brook fell to a superb catch by Axar Patel off Jasprit Bumrah, who became the Indian pace spearhead’s 500th victim in international cricket.

With the shouts of Ganapati Bappa Moriya, Jeetaga bhai jeetega, India jeetega, and Vande Mataram reverberating in the stadium, Varun Chakravarthy castled Jos Buttler (25 off 17 balls, 4×4, 1×6) in the penultimate delivery of the sixth over, foxing the batter with a flighted googly that eluded a mighty heave, the batter and hit the top of the middle-stump. England were 64/3 at this juncture.

Bethell continued to bat aggressively from the other end, reaching his fifty off 19 balls, hammering three fours and five sixes in a brilliant display of power-hitting. He started with a six off Bumrah, blasted a hat-trick of sixes off Chakravarthy in the sixth over and struck Pandya for a six, followed by a four in the seventh over. Back-to-back boundaries off Chakravarthy in the ninth over took England past 100 runs. He blasted a four each off Bumrah, Chakravarthy and Arshdeep in the middle-overs as he raced to his fifty.

Tom Banton hammered sixes off successive balls off Axar Patel before the spinner had the last laugh as he bowled Banton for 17 off five balls as England were reduced to 95/5. But the run-scoring continued as every England batter tried to operate in the fourth gear, unmindful of the situation, as they kept losing wickets.

Bethell was the only one who continued batting aggressively and for long in the middle as he added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Will Jacks, who contributed 35 runs to the score off 20 balls (4×4, 2×6). His wicket spread cheer in the capacity crowd, but India were still in a dangerous situation as England continued to be ahead of India’s score at milestone junctures.

Bethell found another willing partner in Sam Curran as they took England past 200 in the 17th over. Bathell blasted a six and a four off Arshdeep Singh, taking 16 runs from the over, as he moved into the 90s.

England needed 45 runs from the last three overs, and their hopes depended on Bethell. The Indians held their nerves with Bumrah bowling three pinpoint yorkers in the 18th over, conceding only six runs.

Bethell completed his century off 45 balls in the 19th over with a six off Hardik. His brilliant knock was studded with 8 fours and seven sixes. Pandya made a breakthrough for India by getting Curran for 18 runs off 14 balls as they added fifty runs in 26 balls for the sixth-wicket partnership.

Pandya conceded only nine runs and grabbed the crucial wicket of Curran in the 19th over, leaving England needing 30 runs off the last six balls. India didn’t took the risk of going with a spinner for this final over as Suryakumar Yadav turned to Shivam Dube to bowl the decisive over.

India sealed victory as Bethell was run out off the first ball, going for a double in order to retain the strike. And that ended England’s hopes, barring three sixes by Jofra Archer, as they crashed out in the semifinals in the second successive T20 World Cup.

Brief scores:

India 253/7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 89, Shivam Dube 43, Ishan Kishan 39; Will Jacks 2-40, Adil Rashid 2-41) beat England 246/7 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 105, Will Jacks 35; Hardik Pandya 2-38, Jasprit Bumrah 1-33, Axar Patel 1-35) by seven runs