A tale of two catches decided England’s Twenty20 World Cup fate: one a dropped dolly, the other a worldie. Both involved Harry Brook.
Elimination to India at the semi-final stage for the second tournament in a row hinged on a howler by Brook that reprieved India’s man-of-the-moment Sanju Samson.
A player whose swashbuckling batting eliminated West Indies in Sunday’s shoot-out cashed in again after being missed in just the third over, struck seven of India’s 19 sixes in 89 from just 42 balls.
If England had any chance of surpassing their record T20 chase – of 230 here to beat South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium 10 years – it felt like Brook had to play a major role.
But an outstanding running grab over his shoulder by Axar Patel, hurtling back from cover to intercept a towering checked drive that greeted Jasprit Bumrah’s introduction to the attack, sent back England’s captain for single figures.
Axar then produced another moment of magic on the rope to quell a punchy counter-attacking stand of 77 from 39 between centurion Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks, sprinting round the boundary rope at deep point and relaying to Shivam Dube to complete the dismissal.
England were knocked out of the T20 World Cup by a rampant India on home soil in Mumbai
Harry Brook was both the saviour of his side and the architect of their demise in a tale of two catches in the match
Bethell’s second hundred of an outstanding winter, following his Ashes effort in Sydney, coming off just 45 balls kept England in the hunt until India’s trump card Jasprit Bumrah sent down a clinical final over that surged the requirement to 39 off the final 12 deliveries.
Despite losing three wickets inside the power play, thanks chiefly to Warwickshire left-hander Bethell, England bettered India’s six-over tally by one run, and then brought up the 100 in 8.1 overs, two balls quicker than their opponents.
Bethell was in irresistible form, bulldozing three sixes off Varun Chakravarthy’s first three deliveries on his way to a 19-ball half century and then anchoring things when Tom Banton (17 off five) and Jacks (35 off 20) cleared the ropes.
But the contest had slipped through his fingertips by the time he was run out trying to complete a two, keeping the strike and reducing the equation to 28 off five.
Singles off the next two balls from Shivam Dube meant India were guaranteed progression to meet New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Sunday before Jofra Archer put into context the quality of a run-drenched pitch with three sixes.
The opening exchanges of India’s seven-run win were gladiatorial, with a 33,000 sell-out crowd chanting the names of their champions, and every boundary greeted with a deafening din.
Will Jacks temporarily silenced things by luring Abhishek Sharma – a man who blasted an extraordinary 54-ball 135 when the two countries met on this ground 13 months ago – into a false shot to deep midwicket.
But the chance to completely change the atmosphere was missed moments later when Samson, on 15, lobbed a catch to mid-on off Jofra Archer that Brook fumbled at shoulder height, relinquishing the opportunity to reduce India to 24 for two.
Instead, two deliveries later Samson was watching the ball sail into the second tier of the Sachin Tendulkar Stand, and India simply never looked back.
Axar Patel dealt with Brook and shut down a promising partnership between Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks
England did not play a perfect game but showed the courage necessary to compete in the tie
Samson’s 50 from 26 balls included seven fours and two sixes and although Adil Rashid halted a second-wicket stand with Ishan Kishan when it was worth 97, India’s response showed how far ahead of the field they are in this form of the game.
Rashid’s early figures of 2-0-13-1, including Kishan’s departure to a catch down the ground, were mightily impressive given the carnage around him, but India simply promoted specialist spin hitter Dube to No 4 in a bid to wreck them.
The rangy left-hander obliged with two huge swats into the crowd at long-on. Then, when he came back for his fourth, Dube’s blade directed him over the head of Tom Banton at long-off.
Few were spared: Liam Dawson was whipped out of the attack with figures of 1-0-19-0, while one of Sam Curran’s overs cost 20.
And when Archer returned at the death, three sixes from Tilak Varma sped him to the worst bowling analysis of his 45-match career: 4-0-61-1.
It also propelled India beyond the 247 they posted during that Abhiskek special last year that ended in a record 150-run England defeat.
And how they needed it. England have regularly spoken about this having the potential to be their perfect game. It wasn’t. But it was by far their most courageous performance in this tournament.
