Jacob Bethell lay flat with his face down on the red soil pitch at Wankhede. His bat lay face up having come off his hands after Bethell had thrown himself forward, like a swimmer taking a plunge in the pool, nearly two or three feet forward, helplessly trying to beat Hardik Pandya's throw from long-off in pursuit of finishing two runs on the first ball of the final over of the semi-final in which England needed 30 runs.
That was the only mistake Bethell committed - not being proactive to turn back and finish the two to keep strike and keep England's hopes alive - in an otherwise impeccably crafted innings, one which was the best in the match. As Bethell lay with his head, covered by his helmet, bowed down, arms outstretched, feet flayed, Wankhede had erupted into a joyous rapture. Hardik celebrated nearly gyrating at long-off, facing the crowd, which itself leapt into a state of frenzy as soon as Sanju Samson broke the stumps. Even Jasprit Bumrah, in an uncharacteristic act, bared his emotions, screaming in relief, metres from where Bethell lay before picking himself and walking off.
After all, Bethell rattled India with an innings full of bravado, intensity and high craft against the best bowling attack in the World Cup. Harry Brook had committed early on to the very first ball Bumrah bowled, a slower delivery, which the England captain could only play with hard hands with Axar Patel taking first of the two spectacular catches, both nominees for the catches of this World Cup. England's most dangerous batter was out and thereby their hopes were extinguished, believed some experts on air.
Bethell, who replaced Brook, on the second ball he faced, punished Bumrah for bowling down the leg side with fine leg inside the circle with a powerful flick for six. But it was what he did in the next over, the final over of the powerplay, and, also Varun Chakravarthy's first over, that suggested Bethell was thinking of doing something ridiculous.
The first three balls of the mystery spinner's over were hit for six with the final one being among the most amazing you'd see: a reverse lap over the point boundary. Such a high skill stroke requires the batter to get into the proper position by changing his feet before clobbering the ball out of the ground. All this without losing balance or shape. Bethell did it effortlessly.
In the next over, Bethell displayed his innovative strokeplay once again as he quickly jumped into an open chested position and then reverse lap Hardik over the short third fielder for four. Varun changed ends for his second over. He also placed a deep backward point to guard the reverse sweep which Bethell plays easily. Bethell stayed deep in his crease and lofted Varun for a six over long-on first delivery. Next ball, spotting Varun deliver from wide of the crease and round the stumps, Bethell backed away to the access the empty region behind cover. This he did by playing with a straight elbow and full bat face, bringing those wrists into play.
On the match eve Sam Curran had said that England would know they are doing well if the crowd was silent. For large parts of England's innings after Bethell's arrival, the crowd fell silent. While Will Jacks and Curran provided robust support from the other end, Bethell was now floating in a bubble where he read the bowler's plan and reacted smartly while never once being overtly keen.
While the asking rate mounted rapidly against the bowlers that would bowl majority of the final 10 overs - Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik - Bethell was not deterred. Cutters, dipping yorkers, wide yorkers, slow bouncer, wide deliveries outside off stump bowled on purpose to force him to fetch - Bethell encountered all these variations without batting an eyelid. In his final over, Arshdeep bowled a slower delivery, which was lofted over mid-off for six. A wide yorker followed, but Bethell stayed in his crease to stretch outside off to deftly send the ball racing to the deep third boundary to move six short of a century.
Sanju Samson, the second best batter in the semi-final, doffed his hat to Bethell, crediting the left-hander for keeping up with the incredibly high asking rate until England lost momentum in the final two overs.
"T20 cricket is going somewhere else - no one can understand," Samson said. "We knew they [England] would go hard at us in the powerplay but when three wickets fell in that phase then I thought, okay now the game is in our control. But the way Bethell batted, I felt no, it's still possible. They needed 13 runs an over. They were getting two boundaries every over. It was getting very easy for them in the middle overs."
For Brook, Bethell's knock was "ridiculous" due to the high quality nature of the innings.
"He was in his own bubble and it's an amazing feeling. You feel like you could hit nearly every ball for six, and it was one of those innings tonight that he's pulled off," Brook said.
Bethell is the first England player to score a century in the Ashes and T20 World Cup. Both those centuries, though they came in defeats, will be talked about for a long time. On both occasions, Bethell was mostly on his own. He is 22 but was not fazed by the task at hand in both matches.
Brook said Bethell would earn serious money in career. No money can buy a World Cup medal. Bethell nearly, nearly got England closer to the final until he fell flat on his face.