Georgetown (Guyana), June 27 (IANS): Heavy rain has stopped play in the second semi-final of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup at the Providence Stadium on Thursday, with captain Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 37 off 26 balls taking India to 65/2 in eight overs.

On a pitch with slow pace and low bounce, India lost Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant inside the Power-play. But Rohit has managed to keep India afloat by striking six boundaries, with Suryakumar Yadav giving him company on 13 not out after the 2007 winners were inserted in to bat first, post a delay of an hour and 15 minutes due to rain.

With England getting a hint of movement from the cloud cover, they managed to nail their lengths well, targeting the stumps mostly. Rohit Sharma got two streaky boundaries, while Kohli was convincing in his flicked six off Reece Topley. But in a bid to heave Topley across the line, Kohli didn’t account for the length ball shaping back in and saw his bails being rattled.

Despite Rohit not getting the desired timing on his shots, the India captain managed to pull Topley for four and then stayed leg-side to drive the pacer stylishly for another boundary.

But England took out Pant, as he flicked straight to mid-wicket off Sam Curran. Suryakumar opened his account with a straight drive past Curran for four, as India ended the Power-play at 46/2.

Rohit welcomed Adil Rashid with a reverse sweep and the conventional sweep fetching him two boundaries, followed by Suryakumar getting down on one knee to heave a slower ball from Chris Jordan over long-leg for six. Just before the ninth over began, rain began to pour heavily and forced everyone to get off the field.

For the completion of the second semifinal, an extra 250 minutes have been allotted due to the provision of no reserve day. If rain comes later and causes a washout, then India will progress to the final owing to them finishing as the top-ranked side in Group 1 of Super Eights.

Brief scores:

India 67/2 in 8 overs (Rohit Sharma 37 not out; Sam Curran 1-6) against England