NASSER HUSSAIN: India deserve their place in the T20 World Cup final after England win... they covered all bases and it feels right that they will take on South Africa

India were dominant as they beat England by 68 runs in their semi-final clash The pitch made their 171 a decent total to defend as Rohit Sharma shone again England had to go hard in the powerplay but lost early wickets in their chase

The narrative will be that everything on Thursday was geared towards India reaching the T20 World Cup final — the surface, the venue, all seemed to be in their favour.

But if you look at things in greater detail, they came into this semi-final against England having just beaten 50-over world champions Australia on a bouncier, good pitch in St Lucia, and reverted to a lower, slower pitch and won comfortably.

Fair play to them for the way they played and it feels right that India and South Africa, the two unbeaten sides in the tournament, go head to head in Barbados on Saturday.

India's score was only slightly higher than the 168 they put up in the 2022 semi-final they lost to England at the Adelaide Oval, but the difference in conditions to here in Guyana was chalk and cheese.

A combination of seamers keeping the ball low and spinners turning it with no bounce made their 171 for seven a pretty decent score to defend, and Rohit Sharma showed his class by taking one of his favourite shots — the pull — out of the equation to make another half century.

India deserve their place in the World Cup final after comfortably beating England in their semi-final clash

Rohit Sharma (right) shone once again and 171 proved a decent total to defend on the pitch

It feels right that India will be the ones to take on South Africa as the two unbeaten sides

Suryakumar Yadav addressed the lack of bounce by opening areas of the ground that other batters simply couldn't with his scoops and wristy flicks, and they were well supported by Hardik Pandya's muscly cameo.

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So, in contrast to two years ago when England became world champions, at the halfway mark it felt like it was going to be really hard work. It was a challenging pitch, albeit not an impossible one, but the ball was not getting up anywhere near as high as you might expect and the combination of low bounce and big turn was always going to be a threat.

It is very difficult to line things up as a batter in that situation and that meant there was an onus on England to go hard in the powerplay. So Jos Buttler's dismissal, to the first delivery sent down by Axar Patel in the fourth over, felt crucial.

England's attack had been slightly predictable with their slower balls, but Jasprit Bumrah showed how to use them with a full set of variations to dupe Phil Salt shortly afterwards. Even though Harry Brook briefly showed his class, England were fatally behind the rate and losing wickets.

The only question that could be asked of Jos Buttler would be his call to bowl first in the game

The one issue you could level at Buttler was his decision to insert India after winning the toss. Perhaps with rain around he was thinking about Duckworth Lewis, and it was a bit damp up front which might have given them a better chance of their opening bowlers Reece Topley and Jofra Archer nicking people off.

But it should not distract from the fact England lost to a team who have had all bases covered in this competition.