The carnage continues! England may be losing wickets here and there but they're not hesitating to play the big shots one bit. Bethell slams Chakravarthy for two more boundaries, while Jacks slams one himself.

ENG 113/4 (9)

Tom Banton's cameo ends! He absolutely clobbers Axar Patel for two massive sixes on either side of the ground, but then goes for another wild swing and ends up losing his stumps. Axar roars in celebration. Two great catches and now a wicket for him.

ENG 95/4 (7.3)

Jacob Bethell is playing a flier here. He slams a 6 over deep mid-wicket, and then gets 4 more through third-man against Hardik Pandya. The 22-year-old, who plays for RCB in the IPL, is batting on 39 off 14!

ENG 83/3 (7)

End of the powerplay. England's run-rate is fantastic but they've lost a wicket or two more than they'd have liked. Their powerplay score is actually higher than what India managed in theirs, but they've lost two more wickets. Can Bethell and Banton stitch together a big partnership here?

ENG 68/3 (6)

GONE! Varun strikes back! Jos Buttler is castled by Chakravarthy's googly. He had looked in decent touch so far, but his knock ends now. Third wicket down for England in the powerplay!

ENG 64/3 (5.5)

Three sixes in a row! WOW! Jacob Bethell bringing out all the shots in his armoury against Varun Chakravarthy, the No. 1 T20I bowler in the world! First one pulled over deep mid-wicket. Second over smashed over long-off. Third one is the best of the lot, reverse-swept for 6!

ENG 63/2 (5.3)

Jacob Bethell smashes 6! Against Bumrah no less, facing just his second ball. On the pads, but a top shot sends it over fine-leg for a maximum. Nevertheless, a successful first over for Bumrah.

ENG 45/2 (5)

UNBELIEVABLE CATCH! Axar Patel! Jasprit Bumrah outfoxes Harry Brook with a slower ball but it goes high into the air. Axar has to run backwards, but he manages to grab it. An absolute stunner! 

ENG 38/1 (4.1)

Jos Buttler slams two boundaries against Arshdeep Singh. England are not progressing at the run-rate they need to, but these shots will help Buttler, who has been woefully out-of-form in the tournament so far.

ENG 25/1 (3)

GONE! Hardik Pandya strikes with his first delivery! Phil Salt goes for a big swing, mistimes it, the ball goes high up on the off-side and is collected by Axar Patel. Salt departs in the second over, England lose their first wicket.

ENG 13/1 (1.1)

We are BACK! England begin their run chase with a string of boundaries! Salt slams 4 through fine-leg first ball, Buttler hits a cover drive a couple of balls later. Arshdeep Singh bowls a great yorker right after, but Buttler somehow digs it out and even that goes for 4!

ENG 13/0 (1)

20 overs done, India finish on 253/7. Hardik Pandya slams two more maximums in the final over, but then gets run out. 16 off the 20th, meaning India fall just three runs short of their highest-ever total in T20 World Cups.

Sanju Samson laid the foundation with a scintillating 89 off 42, but Kishan, Dube, Tilak and Hardik played their part with great cameos.

IND 253/7 (20)

ENG Target: 254

Priceless cameo from Tilak Varma. He smashes three sixes in Archer's final over. First over deep mid-wicket, then sliced over deep backward point, and the third over fine-leg. He then gets bowled, but the damage has been done. 1/61 in 4 overs for Archer.

Can Hardik take India past 250?

IND 237/6 (19)

Another catch dropped! Hardik Pandya is put down this time. Looking to heave, he miscues completely. Banton charges in from long-on, gets both hands to it, but does not hold on. Will that cost England dearly?

IND 213/5 (17.4)

Shivam Dube enters the 40s! Smashes another maximum over cow corner. That's now three boundaries by Hardik and a 6 by Dube in the last few balls. Dube then gets trapped on the pads next ball, umpire says not out, England take the DRS, but hawkeye confirms the ball clearly is missing the stumps.

Oh dear! And Dube is gone! He tries to scramble a single but Hardik sends him back. A superb throw by Brook and Dube is short of his ground.

IND 212/5 (17.3)

200 up for India! Still 3 overs to go! Hardik Pandya is dealing in boundaries now, three of them in the 17th over against Overton. First one a ramp, the second a glorious cover drive, and the third a superb cut.

IND 205/4 (17)

GONE! Suryakumar Yadav sweeps a maximum inches over the deep square-leg fielder. He tries the same shot on the next ball, misses, and gets stumped. Earlier in the over, Dube had slammed a maximum too. 

IND 190/4 (16)

India's highest-ever total in T20 World Cups is 256, which they made against Zimbabwe in the Super 8 phase. They'll have to smash 80 runs in the remaining 5 overs to beat that. Difficult, but not impossible.

IND 177/3 (15)

OUT! Will Jacks strikes again! Sanju Samson's carnage ends on 89, he falls 11 short of a century. Full and wide, Samson has to reach for it, looks to clear deep extra cover but finds the fielder. This time, England don't drop it. 

But what a knock again from Samson! He has put India on course to possibly beat their total of 256 against Zimbabwe!

IND 160/3 (13.1)

Sanju Samson keeps firing! Jofra Archer is brought back into the attack, but it does absolutely nothing to Samson. The fourth ball of the over is short and wide and helped over deep backward point by Samson for 6. Next ball is a wide, and then he smashes it over long-off for 6 more!

IND 160/2 (13)

Shivam Dube goes big! He takes a couple of balls to settle in, but then clobbers Rashid over deep mid-wicket for a huge 6! And he does it again! Another maximum. Same bowler, same direction. Indian batters are not taking their foot off the accelerator today.

Meanwhile, Samson is on 76 off 38 at the other end. Could he complete a century today?

IND 145/2 (12)

Interesting call here by Team India. They've sent in Shivam Dube at No. 4, with captain Suryakumar Yadav demoting himself! Massive, massive call. Is it to continue the left-right combo or take advantage of Dube's ability against spin?

IND 119/2 (10)

GONE! Massive wicket! Ishan Kishan continuing his gung-ho approach, slams a boundary, but then departs looking to clear long-off. Adil Rashid strikes! Kishan departs for a superb 39 off just 18 balls.

IND 117/2 (9.3)

The onslaught continues! 100 up for India in just 8.4 overs! Ishan Kishan bludgeons another maximum, and then Samson goes berserk. Samson pummells it for 6 over deep mid-wicket, and then hammers it through the covers for 4 more. 20 off the 9th over bowled by Sam Curran.

IND 112/1 (9)

Sanju Samson gets to half-century in style! Inside out, over extra cover, against Liam Dawson. Maximum to get to 50 in just 26 balls. What a knock and at what a stage. 97 not out in the previous game, and he's still going strong!

Ishan Kishan then joins the party with a thunderous maximum over deep mid-wicket!

IND 92/1 (8)

Sanju Samson hammers a cover drive for 4 as Adil Rashid comes in to bowl, but the veteran leg-spinner comes back strong and keeps the over down to just 6 runs. Samson misses out on the final two balls of the over.

IND 73/1 (7)

End of the powerplay! That's gone by in a flash. Sanju Samson has gone berserk and is closing in on another half-century, but thanks in no small part to Harry Brook, who dropped an absolute sitter. Abhishek Sharma departed in the second over, but Ishan Kishan has ensured that India's momentum does not dip.

IND 67/1 (6)

Ishan Kishan dealing in boundaries now! India's No. 3 has made another swift start, and he has raced to 15 runs off just 6 balls. 50 comes up for India in just 4.3 overs. Kishan first targetting the square-leg and fine-leg region, and then hammering a boundary through the covers.

IND 55/1 (4.4)

It is all happening here! Sanju Samson slams a cracking boundary over mid-wicket, but then gets DROPPED at mid-on by England captain Harry Brook! That was a sitter that's been put down by the England skipper. 

Samson punishes England immediately, slamming a maximum over deep mid-wicket and then slicing a boundary through third-man. He is on 25 off 11!

IND 34/1 (3)

GONE! To no one's surprise, England bring on off-spinner Will Jacks in the powerplay, and he delivers! Abhishek Sharma slams two classy boundaries, but then departs on the final ball of the over looking to go big on the leg-side.

IND 20/1 (2)

Good shot, then great shot! Short from Jofra Archer and Sanju Samson gives him the treatment. First one is hammered over mid-on for 4, but the next one is pulled for 6 over fine-leg. Abhishek faces the final ball of the over, and caresses it through cover for a single.

IND 12/0 (1)

We are LIVE! Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are opening the batting for India. Jofra Archer has the new ball for England. Samson is facing the first ball. He nudges it towards third-man, but the fielder collects.

IND 0/0 (0.1)

The India and England players are out onto the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. We are minutes away from a blockbuster encounter. Stay tuned, folks!

Abhishek Sharma has often been targetted by off-spinners in this World Cup, so it won't be a surprise to see Will Jacks given the ball in the powerplay. Jacks played a huge role with the ball in England's first Super 8 match against Sri Lanka, when he scalped three wickets in the powerplay.

Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube have slammed match-winning knocks in this tournament. Hardik Pandya has two half-centuries. The scanner is now on Abhishek Sharma. Three ducks and just 80 runs so far. Can he finally step up when it matters most?

England XI vs India: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.

One change for England, as expected, as Overton replaces Rehan.

India XI vs England: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

No changes for India. They stick with the same team for the third game in a row.

England captain Harry Brook has won the toss and opted to bowl! However, perhaps surprisingly, Suryakumar Yadav says that India were looking to bat first! One change for England: Jamie Overton replaces Rehan Ahmed.

We are just about five minutes away from toss time at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Suryakumar Yadav will lead India, while Harry Brook will captain England. The two skippers have also been their teams' respective highest run-scorers so far in the tournament.

India are unlikely to tinker with their playing XI that has seen them beat Zimbabwe and West Indies after their loss to South Africa in the Super 8. This means that Rinku Singh is likely to miss out again.

The dew could play a very important role, and that could mean that the captain who wins the toss elects to bowl first. There will certainly be pressure on the team batting first to post at least 200 runs on the board.

As the two giants of world cricket get ready for their third semifinal encounter in three editions at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, both will be eyeing records -- hoping to become the first nation to win the ICC Men's T20 World Cup thrice. Currently, besides India and England, the West Indies have won two titles.

Just an hour before the toss, India great Sunil Gavaskar has picked England as "slight favourites" in the semi-final game against Suryakumar Yadav and Co. The match will be an interesting one as both the teams are fighting for a spot in the grand finale. 

India's bowling coach, Morne Morkel, also expressed concern about the potential impact of dew. He said:

"I think dew is always a big concern. But that's again something you can't control: the toss. I think at Wankhede there's always that extra bit of bounce."

"Guys can trust the bounce and play through the line, which can also, as a bowler, bring you into the game. I just feel the margins here are a lot smaller. The ball travels; it's quite a small ground," he explained.

The Wankhede Stadium, as it traditionally does, is expected to favour the batting unit more than the bowling unit. However, a few concerns remain. The pitch at Wankhede has a green tinge, deliberately maintained to lock in moisture ahead of the semi-final. This is primarily because it is a red-soil pitch, and the grass helps retain moisture, preventing the surface from drying out too quickly.

England are all set to play the semi-final for the sixth time in 10 editions of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, also their fourth consecutive time, and will face India in the knockout game. The Englishmen first made it to the top four in 2010, the third edition of the tournament, where they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets at the Beausejour Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia. 

"No, I don't believe that we need a perfect game to win the competition to be honest," Brook replied when asked if England would need that ‘perfect game’ to beat title-favourites India in their backyard. The games that we have won have been nowhere near perfect and we've still managed to get the wins convincingly in some of them and then tight (in) the other games," Harry Brook said before England's training session.

Big question before the semi-final.
Anil Chaudhary explains the situation around a possible ban on Sanju Samson.
Will Sanju miss the T20 World Cup semi-final vs England?#SanjuSamson #INDvsENG #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/RIHTLOSsM4

— ND Sport (@SportsByND) March 5, 2026

Jasprit Bumrah has been phenomenal as usual but slight improvement is needed from the bowlers in the last five overs. It will be interesting to see how Surya uses his resources with Shivam Dube proving to be a risky sixth bowling option. Playing Kuldeep Yadav is always a tempting prospect but India are unlikely to tinker with their playing eleven.

At a ground with short boundaries, the spin duo of Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy will have no room for error. The mystery spinner needs to find his lengths consistently after proving a tad expensive against the West Indies and South Africa.

Ishan Kishan has gone off the boil after a sensational start to the tournament and would be backing himself to fire at his former IPL home ground. The same goes for the current Mumbai Indians stars in the national team – captain Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya.

England will have their plans ready for the two openers. Expect a barrage of short balls into the body from Jofra Archer to test Sanju Samson, who has struggled against the England tearaway in the past, while Will Jacks could trouble Sharma with his off-spin in the powerplay. Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson has also bowled in the first six overs while the hosts need to be at their best against a wily Adil Rashid in the middle overs.

Such are the ways of the game that Abhishek Sharma was in the form of his life leading into the ICC event, but his form in the tournament has taken a massive dip. The southpaw is in desperate need of a confidence-boosting innings. He did get a fifty against Zimbabwe in the Super Eight but remains far from his ballistic best.

Sanju Samson was brought back to the Indian side to break the predictability of a left-handed top-three in the powerplay and that move has worked brilliantly. More than 10 years after his India debut, the wicketkeeper-batter finally delivered on the big stage with a career-defining 97 not out in a virtual quarterfinal against the West Indies. The 31-year-old's confidence must be sky high after that special effort.

Overwhelming favourites at the start of the tournament, India have not been able to stitch together a perfect game against stronger sides in the competition. However, they have served themselves well by adopting a flexible approach after the pasting at the hands of South Africa in their Super 8 opener. It will be interesting to see their approach tonight.

Having not exactly sailed into the T20 World Cup semi-finals, India must now negotiate a potent spin threat from a dangerous England side as both teams chase perfection in tonight's high-pressure knockout game at the Wankhede Stadium.

England's leg-spinner Adil Rashid and left-arm orthodox bowler Liam Dawson have claimed 11 and 10 wickets, respectively, in the tournament so far.

India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

England Squad: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Ben Duckett, Luke Wood, Josh Tongue, Jamie Overton.

According to AccuWeather, there is a zero per cent probability of precipitation in Mumbai tonight. This means expect a complete 20-over-per-side encounter.

Hello everyone, good afternoon! Welcome to the live blog of the India vs England T20 World Cup second semi-final. While New Zealand have already made their way into the summit clash, the winner of tonight’s game will face the Blackcaps. Stay connected to this space!