England storm into World Cup final with 10-wicket rout of India

England thumped India by 10 wickets at Adelaide to storm into the World Cup final at MCG.

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   Alex Hales and captain Jos Buttler shone in a record unbroken opening partnership as a ruthless England humiliated India by 10 wickets at Adelaide Oval on Thursday to storm into the Twenty20 World Cup final. (AP)

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   ngland, who won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019, can now become the first team to hold both global trophies in white-ball cricket when they meet Pakistan in Sunday's final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. (AP)

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   Put into bat after Buttler won the toss, Rohit Sharma's India started slowly under tight English bowling, and it was left to Hardik Pandya (63) and Virat Kohli (50) to mount a rescue, pushing them to 168 for six. (AP)

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   But if India scored at least 20 runs less, blame it on skipper Rohit Sharma (27 off 28 balls) and the first 10 overs that yielded only 62 runs. In a semifinal, consuming 42 dot balls (effectively 7 maiden overs) doesn't paint a pretty picture. (AP)

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   Virat Kohli (50 off 40 balls) occasionally displayed his regal array of strokes but it was the flamboyant Baroda man whose unbelievable end-over pyrotechnics took India to a fighting total, which had looked distinctly impossible after the first 10 overs. (AP)

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   Had it not been for the sixes that Hardik hit off Sam Curran (0/42) and Jordan, India would have ended with a below-par score as Kohli, despite his fourth half-century in the tournament, couldn't up the ante. (AP)

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   The total seemed a tad below par and soon looked piffling as Hales and Buttler went to work, the pair blasting 23 boundaries between them. (AP)

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   rehabilitated opener Hales and skipper Buttler to thank as the pair chased down 169 for victory with four overs to spare, silencing a huge crowd of India supporters. (AP)

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   The over-throws and the dropped catch by Suryakumar Yadav typified a day when everything that could go wrong went wrong for India. (AP)

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   Buttler-Hales' 170-run stand was the biggest opening partnership in T20 World Cup history and England's biggest for any wicket at the tournament. (AP)