Axar Patel dives to take the catch of England’s captain Harry Brook. (ANI Photo)

NEW DELHI: India vice-captain Axar Patel produced two extraordinary moments in the field that turned the tide in India’s thrilling semifinal victory over England at the Wankhede Stadium, and the all-rounder later revealed which of the two catches he believes was the tougher effort.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!India edged England by seven runs in a high-scoring contest at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semifinal in Mumbai, a match that saw a staggering 499 runs scored across both innings. While the batters dominated the contest, Axar’s athletic brilliance in the field proved just as decisive.

The first moment of magic came early in England’s chase when the dangerous Harry Brook looked set to launch an assault. Off a slower delivery from Jasprit Bumrah, Brook mistimed a shot that seemed destined to fall safely. But Axar sprinted nearly 24 metres backward from cover, tracking the ball over his shoulder before completing a sensational diving catch.The Wankhede crowd erupted as the early breakthrough halted England’s aggressive start.Watch Catch No. 1:Axar’s second act of brilliance arrived in the 14th over, when England’s counterattack threatened to tilt the match. With Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks building a dangerous partnership, Jacks sliced a wide full toss from Arshdeep Singh toward deep point. Axar raced to his left, grabbed the ball just before crossing the boundary rope, and cleverly relayed it to Shivam Dube to complete a stunning team effort.That dismissal broke the 77-run stand and pulled India back into the contest.Watch Catch No.2:Asked to choose between the two fielding gems, Axar admitted the Jacks catch was more crucial in terms of match situation but rated the Brook catch as the tougher one.“When I took the first catch of Harry Brook, it was a very good catch for me, it was tough,” Axar said with a smile. “But if you look at the situation and the way England were batting, the catch of Will Jacks was very important to break the partnership.”“If you ask me fielding-wise, Harry Brook’s catch was tougher. And yeah, luckily today, I thought the ball was chasing me,” he joked.India eventually held their nerve despite Bethell’s brilliant century, setting up a summit clash with New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates as India reach T20 World Cup final. (Pic credit: BCCI)

MUMBAI: India, you can breathe again! After 34 sixes and 499 runs were scored across 40 overs, it all came down to one big hit that England could not produce. Eventually, Suryakumar Yadav’s men evaded the proverbial banana peel at the Wankhede on Thursday night and are now in the final of the T20 World Cup.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!England’s hero was 22-year-old Jacob Bethell, who smashed a 48-ball 105 (8×4; 7×6), his maiden T20I century, to give India a massive scare before the hosts kept their nerve to seal a thrilling seven-run win.Having become the first defending champions ever to reach the final, Suryakumar Yadav & Co. will now take on New Zealand in the summit clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday night, hoping to become the first team to defend their title and the first host nation to clinch the trophy.

Chasing 254, England were kept in the hunt by Bethell, who added 77 for the fifth wicket in 39 balls with Will Jacks (35; 20b, 4×4, 2×6) and then 50 in 27 balls for the sixth wicket with Sam Curran (18; 14b, 2×4).However, delivering a masterclass on a pitch which offered nothing but grief for the bowlers, the peerless Jasprit Bumrah (1/33 in 4 overs) conceded 14 runs off his last two overs while Hardik Pandya (2/38 in 4 overs) gave away just nine in the penultimate over of the match, with England needing 39 off the last two.England had to get 30 to get off the last over but could take away only 22 off Shivam Dube as India heaved a sigh of relief. England finished at 246-7 in 20 overs.

The biggest stars of India’s nerve-jangling win, though, were Axar Patel — who pulled off two stunning catches to send back Harry Brook and Jacks — and Sanju Samson, who continued his fairytale comeback by smashing 89 off just 42 balls (8×4, 7×6) to power the Men in Blue to 253/7.Axar’s stunning catch running 24 metres from point to send back Brook was a special moment which brought back memories of Kapil Dev’s famous grab of Viv Richards in the final of the 1983 World Cup at Lord’s. Bumrah, too, deserves credit for that wicket for producing a special slower one.In the 14th over of England’s spirited chase, Axar conjured up magic again. This time, sprinting from deep cover, he lobbed the ball to Shivam Dube before crossing the boundary, Dube caught it comfortably to send back Jacks.

Earlier, apart from Samson’s blazing knock, several power-packed cameos enabled India to have just about enough runs in the bank.Samson is turning out to be the biggest hero of their campaign, a scenario few would imagine when the batter was going through a lean patch not too long ago. Coming off a match-winning 97-run knock against West Indies in the ‘virtual quarter-final’ in Kolkata, Samson put the English attack to the sword.Riding on the raw power of Samson and several other impactful contributions, India raced away to the highest-ever score in a knockout match of the T20 World Cup.England were left to rue a massive mistake from their skipper as Brook dropped Samson when he was on 15, at mid-on off Jofra Archer in the third over. It cost them 74 runs in 36 balls, as Samson was simply unstoppable after that.With Samson leading the way, Shivam Dube (43, 25b, 1×4, 4×6), Ishan Kishan (39, 18b, 4×4, 2×6), Pandya (27, 12b, 3×4, 2×6) and Tilak Varma (21, 7b, 3×6) went all guns blazing.