India and England enter the semifinal on an even footing. While they have both had eye-catching performances so far in the tournament, their weakness have been exposed by their opponents.
Oh, and if India win, Pakistan are waiting for them in Melbourne for the decider.
Head-to-head
India have won 12 out of 20 T20s against England. This will be their fourth meeting in a T20 World Cup, with England having won just once.
India have inflicted damaging victories over England in this tournament. In 2007, Yuvraj SIngh famously hit Stuart Broad for six sixes and in the 2012 edition, England were bundled out for 80. It remains their joint lowest total in T20s and is the joint third-lowest score in T20 World Cup history.
That was also the last time the two played each other in the World Cup.
Route to the final
India began their World Cup with a dramatic last-ball win over Pakistan.
After easily defeating the Netherlands, India’s first loss of the tournament came against South Africa. Despite Suryakumar Yadav’s late fightback, the 133 runs they posted on the board was easily chased down.
Rain and Litton Das gave India a brief scare in their game against Bangladesh but ultimately they prevailed. Their spot in the semifinals was sealed before the final group game against Zimbabwe and the 71 run win that followed was a confidence-boosting result ahead of the England game.
England have not hit their stride in the tournament. While they routed Afghanistan in their opening game, they were felled by Ireland in a game marred by the rain.
Their match against Australia being rained out, Captain Jos Buttler led from the front against New Zealand with a remarkable 73 of 47 that saw them win by 20 runs. A win against Sri Lanka in their final group game saw England through and holders Australia knocked out.
Key matchups
A crucial battle in the game will be between England’s batting and India’s bowling.
While both have come so far relatively unscathed, they have been unconvincing. Jasprit Bumrah’s injury was an enormous blow to India’s chances. Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh have ably filled the hole of his absence but have shown signs of being susceptible to counter attacking batting.
Virat Kohli is the current leading scorer of the tournament with 246 runs, closely followed by Suryakumar Yadav in third with 226.
For England, it is a style of batting that Buttler, and much of the England batting lineup, has made his name for. The English captain has been woefully short of his best in this World Cup. However, Buttler, together with Alex Hales up top, sets the tone for the rest of the innings as he showed in the game against New Zealand.
Sam Curran has been England’s best player in the tournament: 10 wickets with an average of 9.4 and the only player so far in the tournament to take a five-wicket haul.
He has ably supported by pacer Mark Wood and spinner Adil Rashid, who have both fine tournaments so far too.
Source: AL Jazeera
BDST: 1252 HRS, NOV 10, 2022
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