India defeated England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2026 to qualify for the final of the mega tournament that is set to be held against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 8 (Sunday). This is a big chance for India to win the tournament and become the first team ever to win back-to-back titles in T20 World Cup history. However, India will be carrying memories of their only two defeats in ICC tournaments in the last three tournaments on this very ground - against Australia (ODI World Cup 2023 final) and South Africa (T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8). However, the team have received a big boost regarding the pitch two days before the final.
According to a report by ESPN Cricinfo, the pitch at Ahmedabad in the final will be a batting paradise. It will be a mix of black and red soild, rather than the black soil one, which was used in the two pervious losses against Australia and South Africa. This pitch, like the semi-final pitch at Wankhede, will have bounce and will be seamer friendly. The par score on this pitch will be 200.
This pitch hosted just one game in the T20 World Cup 2026, a game between Canada and South Africa, that was played nearly a month ago on February 9. Hence, this track will be as good as fresh.
India were put in to bat first by England after the latter won the toss in the semi-final. Sanju Samson led the charge with his 89-run knock, as India managed to score 253/7 at the end of their 20 overs. All Indian batters chipped in with runs. Shivam Dube scored 43, Ishan Kishan scored 39, and Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma played important cameos.
This was the highest total by any team in the history of the T20 World Cup knockout stages.
England, however, kept themselves in the game, as they almost pulled off the run chase which looked impossible. All credit of this goes to Jacob Bethell, who slammed a century, hitting 105 from 48 deliveries. However, they fell 7 runs short. In the midst of this batting carnage, Jasprit Bumrah was the game changer for India with the ball, conceding just 33 runs in his four overs.
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Shaunak Ghosh is a Senior Sports Correspondent at Timesnownews with over seven years of experience in print and digital journalism. He holds a postgra...View More
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