The penultimate match of what has been an engrossing T20 World Cup will see India taking on England at the Providence Stadium in the second semi-final on Thursday afternoon.
This edition has already delivered a little bit of everything, and it is somewhat fitting that the tournament favourites and defending champions cross paths to earn their spot in the grand final.
Match preview
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Aside from the host nations, India have undoubtedly had the biggest fan support of any nation at this year’s T20 World Cup, and thousands of blue shirts were in attendance to see their heroes romp into the semis by beating Australia on Monday afternoon.
Rohit Sharma scored a majestic 92 runs from just 41 balls at the top of the innings, taking his side to the tournament’s second-highest total of 205/5, only behind the West Indies’ 218/5 against Afghanistan in the final match of the first phase.
Despite losing David Warner early doors, the Aussies got off to a brisk start with Travis Head taking it to the Indian opening bowlers but the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel slowed the run rate significantly in the middle overs, which Mitchell Marsh‘s side were unable to recover from.
The Men in Blue are one of only two sides, along with South Africa, that have reached the last four without losing a game, with their only dropped points during the group stage coming as a result of their match against Canada being washed out without a ball bowled.
All else aside, if India could have chosen any of the remaining three teams to face in this match, it would likely be England, as it was the Three Lions that knocked them out in this very match in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
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When these two met at the Adelaide Oval in the last edition of this tournament, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler led England to victory with what still stands as the highest any-wicket partnership in T20 World Cup history (170*).
That knock surpassed Rilee Rossouw and Quinton de Kock‘s 168 made earlier in the same competition and that was also the last time these T20 World Cup champions have faced each other in the shortest format of the game in any competition.
Buttler posted an unbeaten 80 that day as the Three Lions won without losing a wicket, and the skipper pulled off a similar feat in the last match at this World Cup, scoring 83* alongside his current opening partner Phil Salt to lead his side to a 10-wicket victory over the United States.
While England ultimately reached this stage of the competition by finishing two points ahead of the West Indies in the Super Eight, the significance of Buttler’s knock at the time was huge, as it came before the Windies’ match against South Africa, when the co-hosts had a significantly better net run-rate.
However, aside from their victory against the US, the Three Lions have been far from convincing, not just in this competition, but in the white-ball formats for last couple of years, during which they were dumped out of the ODI World Cup in the group stage and suffered T20 series defeats against New Zealand and the West Indies in the last six months.
Team News
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Arshdeep Singh caught the eye at the recently concluded Indian Premier League for the Punjab Kings and has continued his excellent form in this competition, now the tied leading wicket-taker on 15 alongside Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi.
After a couple of solid knocks, Virat Kohli was dismissed without troubling the scoring against Australia. With that, the two-time leading run-scorer of the T20 World Cup matched an unwanted feat, joining former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra to have bagged a brace of ducks in a single edition of the tournament.
Buttler’s knock of 83* in the last match has taken him to eighth in the leading run-scorer standings in the competition with 191, followed by Phil Salt in ninth on 183 and a strike rate of 166.36, which is the best of the top-10 on the same list.
Chris Jordan made a very strong case to be included in the starting 11 in the final, taking a blinding catch to dismiss Harmeet Singh in the last match before wrapping up the US innings with a hat-trick.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
Series so far
India
Match One: India won by 8 wickets
Ireland – 96 (16)
India – 97/2 (12.2)
Match Two: India won by 6 runs
India – 119 (19)
Pakistan – 113/7 (20)
Match Three: India won by 7 wickets
USA – 110/8 (20)
India – 111/3 (18.2)
Match Four: No Result
Match Five: India won by 47 runs
India – 181/8
Afghanistan – 134 (20)
Match Six: India won by 50 runs
India – 196/5 (20)
Bangladesh – 146/8 (20)
Match Seven: India won by 24 runs
India – 205/5 (20)
Australia – 181/7 (20)
England
Match One: No Result
Match Two: England lost by 36 runs
Australia – 201/7 (20)
England – 165/6 (20)
Match Three: England won by eight wickets
Oman – 47 (13.2)
England – 50/2 (3.1)
Match Four: England won by 41 runs (DLS method)
England – 122/8 (10)
Namibia – 84/3 (10)
Match Five: England won by 8 wickets
West Indies – 180/4 (20)
England – 181/2 (17.3)
Match Six: England lost by 7 runs
South Africa – 163/6 (20)
England – 156/6 (20)
Match Seven: England won by 10 wickets
USA – 115 (18.5)
England – 117/0 (9.4)
We say: India to win
Matches featuring these two cricket heavyweights seldom disappoint, and provided the weather plays its part, this should be no different.
However, India have firmly established themselves as the team to beat in this competition and we feel they will be the ones heading to Barbados this weekend.
