Buttler wished he had bowled Moeen on a turning Providence pitch instead of" Outplayed."

England suffer a 68- work decline in Guyana as India kill 2022 battle, also at the semi- last stage

Jos Buttler, England's commander, admitted his team had been fully outplayed in their 68- work beat to India in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi- last in Guyana, but insisted his decision to bowl second after winning the toss had not been a significant factor in the result.

After handing over first use of a spin- pleasant surface that was answerable to obtain slower and lower as the day went by, Buttler conceded that India's total of 171 for 7- thanks to 57 from 39 balls from his counterpart Rohit Sharma, skilfully backed up by Suryakumar Yadav's 47 from 36- was" 20- 25 runs to many".

In email, England were rattled out for 103 in precisely 100 deliveries, with Axar Patel striking the important punch with his first ball of the match, in the third over of the powerplay, as Buttler top- edged a reverse- sweep to the keeper to flee for 23 from 15.

Thereafter, Axar struck with the first ball of each of his future two overs to reduce Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali on his way to Player- of- the- Match- winning figures of 3 for 23, before Kuldeep Yadav's kept- arm wristspin ripped through an uncovered middle- order to finish with 3 for 19.

" They certainly outplayed us", Buttler said at the post- match presentation. " I think maybe we let them get 20- 25 runs too many. That was a challenging surface that they played well on. But they outplayed us and fully deserved the win".

Reece Topley and Chris Jordan both retained ahead of an extra spinner in Tom Hartley, as well as Ben Duckett's prowess against the turning ball, which caused a further lengthy interlude midway through India's innings due to the morning rain, which had delayed play by more than an hour.

In the final analysis, however, it was England's chosen spinners, Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid who proved the most potent weapons, as they conceded a combined total of 49 runs in their eight overs ( 6.13 rpo ), compared to 12 overs for 120 ( 10 rpo ) from the four quicks.

" With everything that's happened throughout the whole tournament, we're really proud of everyone's efforts to be here"

Jos Buttler

Moeen Ali, however, was overlooked, possibly as a consequence of the damp conditions early in India's innings. Buttler acknowledged that he had misjudged ignoring Moeen and that he had become concerned about what India's potent spin attack might achieve on the same surface.

" Obviously, they've got some fantastic spinners", Buttler said. " Our two guys bowled well, but in hindsight, I should have brought Moeen]on ] in that innings, with the way that the spin was playing.

" Obviously with the rain around in those conditions, I probably did n't think it was going to change that much, "he added". And I do n't believe it actually did. I believed they had out-boaned us. They had an above- par score. So I do n't think necessarily the toss was the difference between the teams."

The result was every bit as comprehensive as England's ten- wicket victory had been at the same stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide, after which Buttler's men went on to become the first men's team to hold both 50- and 20- over world titles at the same time.

Both those trophies have now been prised from England's grasp, and while a semi- final exit is a significantly better defence than the team managed in the 50- over World Cup last year, England still exit the tournament after losing three of their four matches against major opponents.

Their early loss to Australia left them needing favours to progress from the group stage, while their narrow defeat to South Africa in St Lucia condemned them to the tougher semi- final draw, where India were waiting to avenge that Adelaide result with what Rohit pointedly described as a" satisfying "performance.

" Two years on, in different conditions, it's very different," Buttler said, when asked to reflect on his team's changed fortunes". India deserves praise for their performance in a top-notch cricket match.

We're really proud of everyone's efforts to be here, he continued, citing their risky progression from Group 2, when only a late break in the clouds in Antigua had allowed them to take the field in a must-win match against Namibia.

" You can only play who's put in front of you. We've had lots of adversity throughout the competition. We've stuck together well as a group, and played some really good cricket in patches but came up short when we needed it most".