After the effort and emotion of a memorable win last night, England have to lift themselves for a second time in 24 hours to secure their place in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20. With so much put into a performance that has eliminated the holders and pre-tournament favourites, anything but a follow-up against West Indies at the Brit Oval will be a horrible anti-climax.

Scrambling runs desperately in the closing stages after the loss of Kevin Pietersen to gradually push their total towards 153 for 7, they gave India a torrid time with the short ball in the opening overs of their reply and held their nerve when Yuvraj Singh threatened briefly to live up to his hype. India needed 19 from the final over, but the defending champions left their charge too late.

In such a tight result, focus can dwell on any one single moment and India will rue the scheduled last ball of the England innings which Harbhajan Singh, having taken two wickets in the over, speared down the leg side for five wides. There were many instances of England turning ones into twos and India settling for jogged singles from similar pushes into the outfield.

But to break down the contest into 240 component parts overlooks an overall truth: England were ahead for all but the first couple of overs, when they lost Luke Wright cheaply. Pietersen and Ravi Bopara put on 71 in 9.1 overs to give the innings its foundation and India were never ahead of the run-rate. Their decision to bat Yuvraj as low as No 5 was either complacency or overstating faith in Ravindra Jadeja above him.

The result has set up a straight fight between two countries who know each other better than any sides in the world. Quite how many times England and West Indies have met this year is a matter of debate: anything from 14 to 17 depending on whether the one-day washout at Headingley, ten-ball Test in Antigua and 20-over warm up last week are included. Suffice to say, there will be few surprises.

Forewarned, however, does not always mean forearmed. India must have expected James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom to target their ribs, but were no better prepared than they had been against Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards two days earlier.

Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, young batsmen with big reputations on the low, slow pitches of home, looked out of their depth against a fiery Sidebottom.

By the time that Yuvraj arrived, India needed 92 from 56 balls and Paul Collingwood had already fiddled enough overs from his second line of attack. Yuvraj drove his first ball over long on and soon hit a second six against Graeme Swann, but the spin bowler gained revenge when he coaxed Yuvraj slightly out of his crease to drive, beat the edge and saw James Foster complete a smart stumping.

Yusuf Pathan took up the challenge, scoring from every one of the 17 deliveries faced. At the other end, Mahendra Singh Dhoni finally discovered a semblance of timing in a difficult tournament. In the context, Broad did well to restrict the sixth wicket pair to nine from the penultimate over. But, despite a six by Pathan against Sidebottom, the last-ball four was a cause for commiseration not celebration for India.

England were entitled to feel all along that their own score was just about par: previous first innings on the same pitch had realised 150, 153 and 144. Once again, boundaries flowed sparsely from their bats — even Ireland hit more earlier in the day — and at times they overcomplicated with reverse shots. But they tore like hares between the wickets.

Pietersen, as always, stood in a class of his own. His early off drive against R. P. Singh was never bettered and he dealt easily with Yuvraj, his tormentor of yore. Bopara chipped in at a run a ball and the promotion of Dimitri Mascarenhas was not a failure as such. He just did not see the strike he wanted in the last five overs.

England were so elated at the result that Sidebottom, the man of the match for his first overs rather than his expensive last, said that the players would be cracking open the beers to celebrate. In the excitement, it had clearly not registered that they need to do the same again today. The fitness coaches may not approve.

England
R S Bopara b Jadeja 37
L J Wright c Pathan b R P Singh 1
K P Pietersen lbw b Jadeja 46
A D Mascarenhas not out 25
O A Shah c Jadeja b Harbhajan 12
*P D Collingwood lbw b Khan 7
† JS Foster c & b Harbhajan Singh 6
G P Swann b Harbhajan 0
S C J Broad not out 3
Extras (lb 2, w 14) 16
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 153

R J Sidebottom and J M Anderson did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-74, 3-92, 4-122, 5-138, 6-145, 7-145.

Bowling: Khan 3-0-26-1; R P Singh 3-0-13-1; I Sharma 4-0-36-0; Yuvraj 2-0-20-0; Harbhajan 4-0-30-3; Jadeja 4-0-26-2.

India
G Gambhir c Broad b Mascarenhas 26
R G Sharma b Sidebottom 9
S K Raina c Wright b Sidebottom 2
R A Jadeja c Broad b Swann 25
Yuvraj Singh st Foster b Swann 17
*† M S Dhoni not out 30
Y K Pathan not out 33
Extras (lb 4, w 4) 8
Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 150

Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, I Sharma and R P Singh did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-24, 3-62, 4-85, 5-87.

Bowling: Anderson 4-0-32-0; Sidebottom 4-0-31-2; Broad 4-0-21-0; Pietersen 1-0-9-0; Wright 2-0-16-0; Swann 4-0-28-2; Mascarenhas 1-0-9-1.

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and E A R de Silva (Sri Lanka).

Today: Brit Oval: Ireland v Pakistan (1.30); England v West Indies (5.30). Tomorrow: Trent Bridge: New Zealand v Sri Lanka (1.30); India v South Africa (5.30). Thursday: Trent Bridge: First semi-final (winner of group E v runner-up of group F). Friday: Brit Oval: Second semi-final (winner of group F v runner-up of group E). June 21: Lord’s: Final.