Akshar Patel played a pivotal role in India’s commanding 68-run victory over England in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at Providence Stadium, Guyana, on Thursday (June 27).

Chasing 172 to win, the defending champions started positively with Jos Buttler and Philip Salt adding 26 runs for the first wicket. Akshar made the breakthrough by dismissing Buttler for 23 off 15 balls. He then took the wickets of Moeen Ali (8) and Jonny Bairstow (0), reducing England to 46/4.

England struggled to recover from Akshar’s impact in the first 10 overs. The left-arm spinner finished with impressive figures of 3 for 23 in his four overs. He received strong support from Kuldeep Yadav (3-19 in 4 overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-12 in 2.4 overs) as India bowled out England for a mere 103 in 16.4 overs.

After receiving the Player-of-the-Match award, Akshar Patel commented on his experience bowling during the powerplay and his strategy of targeting the right areas on the pitch to maximize his effectiveness.

“I have bowled in the powerplay in the past, so that was the plan. The wicket was stopping and keeping low, so I tried to bowl in the right areas. The wicket was slow, so I bowled slower, which worked for me. It wouldn’t have worked had I bowled quicker, as it would have been easier for their batters,” Akshar said.

With this victory, India advanced to the T20 World Cup 2024 final, set to be played against South Africa on Saturday (June 29) in Barbados. South Africa secured their place in the final by defeating Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final.

Akshar Patel expressed his intention to cherish the Player-of-the-Match award for now rather than focusing on the final.

“Our batters told us that the wicket wasn’t easy, so 160 was a good total according to us. The partnership between Rohit and SKY was magnificent as they scored occasional boundaries and rotated the strike. I’m not thinking about Barbados at the moment, will celebrate this player of the match award first,” he remarked.