Australia’s unbeaten duo Mitchell Starc (left) and Pat Cummins  wear a dejected look after their defeat to India. Pic/Getty Images

Against Bangladesh, acknowledged as good players of the turning ball, Kuldeep teased and tormented the batters to finish with three for 19. And on Monday at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium against Australia, in a game that produced 386 runs, he wound up conceding just 24 runs in his full complement, picking up the crucial sticks of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell.

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Marsh was spectacularly caught by Axar Patel on the deep backward square-leg fence while a charging Maxwell was defeated by a wrong ’un that spun across his bat and disturbed the furniture. Having looked on course to reel in India’s 205 for five, Australia never recovered from those blows and were restricted to 181 for seven, going down by 24 runs.

“Kuldeep is a champion spinner. Whenever he gets a chance, he delivers and he’s always been in the wickets,” acknowledged Arshdeep Singh, the left-arm seamer who packed off David Warner on his way to three for 37. “Today, he was bowling from the tough end and even against the wind, he managed to bowl at around six an over and took crucial wickets. He’s a really important player and we’re looking forward to him taking a lot of wickets in the next two matches.”

India’s tally was made possible by a blistering 92 from skipper Rohit Sharma, whose 19-ball fifty was the fastest half-century of this World Cup. Their third straight victory and top-dog status in Group 1 set up a Thursday semi-final in Providence against England, the team that had put them out at the same stage in the last T20 World Cup in Adelaide, Australia, a year and a half back.

“We want to play the same way, understand what the individuals need to do in a given situation. Don’t think too much about what’s lying ahead and play freely.  So far, we’ve been doing that consistently, and in the semi-finals, we’ll try and do the same. It’ll be nice [to play England] but nothing changes for us. We must focus on what we can do as a team and take the game on,” India’s skipper and Player of the Match said.