The State of Play
England head into their final Super Eight clash at the T20 World Cup against the United States tomorrow knowing they will almost certainly need to win to stand any chance of progressing through to the semi-finals.
Jos Buttler’s side could not back up their impressive win over the West Indies against South Africa yesterday, failing to chase down 164 and losing by seven runs.
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It was a disappointing outcome after a display against the Windies that suggested the defending champions had regained their mojo.
Heading into the final round of fixtures in Group 2, all four teams can still go through. Having won both their games in the pool so far, South Africa are in pole position and will make sure of progression with a win against the Windies.
England’s route is more complex, although it almost certainly needs a win against the US. It will then depend on what happens in the other game with net run-rate a likely determining factor.
Buttler was not disheartened by the display against the Proteas, saying: “We’re still very much in the competition. We’ve played really well today, we just couldn’t get over the line.”
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The States’ chances are minimal. They need a thumping win over England and hope South Africa thrash the West Indies to stand any chance of going through.
That appears unlikely given Aaron Jones’ men have not won a match in regulation since their defeat of Canada in their first game of the tournament.
They were hopelessly outclassed by the Windies in their last outing. Having managed just 128 in their innings, they were powerless to prevent their fellow co-hosts from easing to their victory target in under 11 overs.
Jones admitted: “I think maybe we probably needed a score around 175-180 and we obviously finished under par. In the middle we lost wickets in clusters. That’s very important in T20 cricket and we never recovered from that.
“Obviously we tried to take a few quick wickets in the powerplay. England will be a good challenge and we are up for it.”
We fall agonisingly short in St Lucia.
An unbelievable effort lads, well played 🤝#EnglandCricket | #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/UQm98YsYo0
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 21, 2024
Expected line-ups
England: Salt, Buttler (c, wk), Bairstow, Ali, Brook, Livingstone, Curran, Archer, Rashid, Wood, Topley
USA: Taylor, Gous (wk), Kumar, Jones (c), Anderson, Kumar, H Singh, Van Schalkwyk, Kenjige, Khan, Netravalkar
Take a bow, Andries Gous! 💪🔥
The highest run scorer in the 2024 @ICC @T20WorldCup! 🤩#T20WorldCup | #WeAreUSACricket 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/8ZFpktgKiq
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) June 22, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the T20 World Cup to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Coverage gets underway on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 3pm UK time on Sunday afternoon.
In India, the games can be streamed on Disney + Hotstar app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Prediction
England will surely possess too much for the States. Whether that will be enough to see them go through remains to be seen.
Buttler’s side haven’t always been at their best in this tournament but they will need to come out firing to get the resounding win they require.
The States have found the gulf in class too much to bridge in recent games and we expect that trend to continue here.
England to win and win well.
