A half-century from captain Rohit Sharma and a timely 47 off 36 balls from the bat of Suryakumar Yadav powered India to 171-7 in their ICC T20 World Cup semifinal against champions England in Guyana on Thursday.

Rohit led the charge for India, making 57 off 39 balls and his 73-run partnership off 50 balls with Surkyakumar helped India post a commanding total on a surface that looked sluggish at times.

For England, pacer Chris Jordan picked up three wickets but it cost him 37 runs. Spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone, meanwhile, kept a tight leash on the Indian batters, conceding only 25 and 24 runs in their respective four overs.

The match started an hour after scheduled time due to wet surface and play got held up once more after the eighth over, with India on 65-2 after being asked to bat first.

But no overs were lost due to the two rain interruptions as an extra 250 minutes have been allotted for this match if required, a measure taken to mitigate the chance of a no result in the second semifinal, which has no reserve day.

If the game is washed out, India will play South Africa in Saturday's final in Barbados as a result of topping their Super Eight group.

Earlier in the day, South Africa thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semifinal to book a place in the final for the first time.