Mumbai, March 7 (IANS) ICC T20 World Cup 2026 second semi-final between defending champions India and two-time winners England at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday has become the most-streamed match in the history of T20Is, with 619 million views, surpassing the previous record set in the T20 World Cup 2024 Final played between India and South Africa, which generated 533 million views.

India’s leading streaming platform JioHotstar recorded an unprecedented 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers during the high-stakes encounter, setting a new world record for the highest concurrency ever achieved for a live event across any digital platform in the world.

The peak concurrency surpassed the previous global record of 65 million set by an international streaming platform in November 2024, a figure achieved through aggregated viewership across multiple markets. JioHotstar’s record, however, was driven entirely by audiences within a single market.

Across linear television and digital platforms, the semi-final delivered a combined reach exceeding 320 million viewers, while watch-time across screens crossed an extraordinary 23 billion minutes, making it the most-watched T20I match ever.

Reflecting on the record streaming, ICC chairman Jay Shah said, “It is incredibly heartening to see the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup bringing together hundreds of millions of Cricket fans in India.”

“The remarkable numbers recorded during the India vs England semi-final demonstrate not only the passion of cricket fans but also the tremendous progress being made in making the game more accessible and engaging for audiences everywhere. This World Cup will be remembered as much for its on- field play as it will be for the way millions of fans came together to celebrate the sport,” he added.

While JioStar Vice-Chairman Uday Shankar said, “This is testimony to JioStar’s technological and creative excellence and ICC’s commitment to making the game of cricket even bigger.”

“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final game on Thursday, and when hundreds of millions of people tune in to watch the game, it takes the best of technology to deliver. This is what the future of entertainment is going to look like,” he added.

Speaking of the match, batting first after losing the toss, India posted a mammoth total of 253 runs in 20 overs. England fought hard with the help of Jacob Bethell’s century, but fell short of 7 runs as they finished at 246 in 20 overs.

–IANS

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