Brilliant Buttler hails England batting depth after India rout

Skipper Jos Buttler on Thursday said it was England's batting depth that had allowed him and Alex Hales the freedom to demolish India by 10 wickets and power his side into a Twenty20 World Cup final with Pakistan.

Chasing 169 for victory in the second semi-final in Adelaide, Hales smashed seven sixes in his 86 and Buttler, who made 80, hit three as they took India apart to cruise into Sunday's final in Melbourne with four overs to spare.

England started the tournament slowly and were shocked by Ireland in a group match before a win over 2021 finalists New Zealand and a tense victory over Sri Lanka got them to the final four.

But they are full of momentum after a near perfect performance to make their third T20 World Cup final.

"Obviously immensely proud of the guys. That was a brilliant performance, by far our best performance in the tournament," said Buttler, whose unbroken 170-run stand with Hales was the highest partnership in T20 World Cup history.

It beat the 168 put together by South Africa's Rilee Rossouw and Quinton de Kock against Bangladesh earlier in the tournament.

"To do it on a day like today in such a high-pressure game is immensely satisfying."

Phil Salt replaced the injured Dawid Malan at number three, but was a spectator, as were the rest of England's formidable batting line-up which contains power hitters all the way down to number 11.

"I think Adil Rashid was due in at number 11 today, so an incredibly long batting line-up which allows you to just keep going and play with so much freedom," said Buttler.

"And I think that was a big part of today."

England, who are 50-over World Cup champions, will be looking on Sunday to add to their sole T20 crown won in 2010.

"I think it's important we enjoy the performance