Bethell makes brilliant century but England fall agonisingly short against India in semi-final

Bethell makes brilliant century but England fall agonisingly short against India in semi-final Bethell makes brilliant century but England fall agonisingly short against India in semi-final Last updated 05 March 2026 5:43pm GMT Save Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Key moments RESULT India beat England by seven runs WICKET! Curran out after Bethell’s ton OVER 3 Brook drops a dolly! Expand all Bethell’s hundred came up off 45 balls Credit: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP Luke Slater live updates. Tim Wigmore in Mumbai. Nick Hoult. Will Macpherson Last updated 05 March 2026 5:43pm GMT Save Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Key moments RESULT India beat England by seven runs WICKET! Curran out after Bethell’s ton OVER 3 Brook drops a dolly! Expand all In glorious defeat, Jacob Bethell added to his standing as the prince of English cricket. Facing an absurd target of 254 to defeat India and reach the 2026 T20 World Cup final, Bethell’s 105 almost set-up a heist straight out of the theatre of the absurd.With three overs to go, England needed just 45 more to win, with five wickets in hand. The ebullient Wankhede crowd were so fearful that, when Jasprit Bumrah, conceded just six from the 18th over, they rose to salute him.Bethell continued with the same clinical ball-striking that marked his entire innings. At the start of the 19th over, he launched Hardik Pandya over wide long on, where Axar Patel parried the ball over the ropes. The shot brought up Bethell’s 45-ball century, an astounding feat in his maiden World Cup knockout match; he celebrated with a perfunctory raising of his bat, recognising a job not yet done. Bethell hits seven sixes and eight fours as he took England agonisingly close in the semi-final Credit: Rafiq Maqbool/AP But Bethell would not quite complete what he had started. He only faced two more balls in the 19th over, leaving England needing 30 from the final over. Attempting a second run to stay on strike, Bethell’s desperate, forlorn dive ended with his face on the ground. Three sixes from Jofra Archer, when defeat was already mathematically confirmed, added to England’s anguish.Yet English defeats have seldom been more admirable. A cocktail of a raucous home crowd, sumptuous batting conditions and the high-stakes of a World Cup semi-final combined to produce one of the greatest matches in T20 history.After conceding their highest ever score in T20 cricket, and then losing Phil Salt in the second over, England responded with bravery and elan to their impossible pursuit. Bethell arrived at 38 for two, and promptly flicked Bumrah for six over fine leg from his second delivery.Twenty-four hours earlier, Bethell had shadow-batted out on the square at the Wankhede. Yet surely not even in his visualisation can he have imagined batting with quite the fluency and range that he exhibited in Mumbai.When mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy came on, in the sixth over, Bethell showed off his audacity and range, launching Chakravarthy’s first ball over long on and his second over long off. His appetite unsated, Bethell then reverse-slogged Chakravarthy’s third delivery for another six, this time over deep point. Bethell improvised an extraordinary range of strokes Credit: Alex Davidson/ICC via Getty Images The memory of such strokes will linger long after England have returned home. Yet there will be ample regret for Bethell’s teammates too.At the Wankhede Stadium, tickets were so sought-after that touts sold them for up to 50,000 rupees (£410). Harry Brook had promised that his side would embrace the occasion and try and silence the crowd. Instead, 14 balls into the game, the Mumbai crowd broke into cheers, celebrating Brook’s routine dropped catch off Sanju Samson. Harry Brook’s dropped catch allowed Sanju Samson to put on 74 more runs, which proved pivotal to their victory Credit: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP Had Brook held a simple catch at mid on off Jofra Archer’s bowling – he seemed unsure whether to take the ball with his hands cupping down or up – India would have been 24 for two. Even for such a storied batting line-up, this position would have seemed to demand some consolidation; England, conversely, might have been able to settle. Instead, Samson added another 74 after being dropped, ensuring that India reached a target that was beyond even Bethell.Full report to follow Latest updates Luke Slater live updates. Tim Wigmore in Mumbai. Nick Hoult. Will Macpherson 5:43PM McCullum on Bethell Link copied to clipboard “It was a punt, right, when Beth was introduced to international cricket. He probably didn’t have the results behind him to back that up. They backed him as a special talent. You don’t often to expect that you get as quick a delivery on that skill and that talent when you arrive in international