The State of Play
England will look to repeat their 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final thrashing of India when they meet at the same stage in Guyana tomorrow.
Jos Buttler’s men hammered India in Adelaide two years ago, winning by 10 wickets with the captain scoring 80 not out and Alex Hales making an unbeaten 86.
A similar outcome would be a major surprise, however, given England’s circuitous route to this stage which saw them on the brink of elimination during the first group stage.
India in contrast have won every completed game in the US and Caribbean and England all-rounder Moeen Ali is wary of Rohit Sharma’s team.
He said: “They’re just a brilliant side. They’ve got everything covered, so we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them.
“I’m looking forward to it, actually: it’s a great challenge, similar to the last time we played them in the semi-final in Australia. It’s going to be a challenge, and we’re going to have to plan and play really well.”
Sharma will be the India dangerman after looking in great nick in blasting 92 off 41 balls in their last outing, a 24-run win over Australia in the Super Eight.
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Ali added: “He’s a world-class player – one of the best players in the world.
“You sometimes just hope they get out in T20s. That’s the thing in cricket, especially T20 cricket: you’re not always guaranteed runs, no matter how good you’re playing. But they’ve got other players as well.”
Sharma was understated when asked about the challenge of facing England in the last four.
“We don’t want to do anything different [in the knockouts], we want to play the same way, understand what the individuals need to do in a given situation, and play freely,” he said.
“So far we’ve been doing that consistently, and semi-finals, we have to try and do the same thing. It’ll be nice [to play England]. Nothing changes for us, we want to focus on what we can do as a team, and take the game on.”
Ready to fight fire with fire 🔥#EnglandCricket | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/0MsVw0Dpa7
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 26, 2024
Expected line-ups
England: Salt, Buttler (c, wk), Bairstow, Brook, Ali, Livingstone, Curran, Jordan, Archer, Rashid, Topley
India: Sharma (c), Kohli, Pant (wk), S Yadav, Dube, Pandya, Jadeja, Patel, K Yadav, Singh, Bumrah
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 on Thursday afternoon.
In India, the games can be streamed on Disney + Hotstar app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
St. Lucia ✅#TeamIndia have reached Guyana ✈️ for the Semi-final clash against England! 👍 👍#T20WorldCup | #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/p4wqfZ4XUw
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 26, 2024
Prediction
T20 is such an unpredictable format of the game, but India appear to have the edge coming into this one.
England have looked good in spells and distinctly average in others.
The pitch in Guyana traditionally aids spin bowling which gives India a significant advantage. Although Adil Rashid has been typically brilliant in this tournament, England’s back-up options of Ali and Liam Livingstone are some way short of India’s trio of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
England have a wildcard in Jofra Archer, who can blow any team away on his day, while Buttler can be equally destructive with the bat if he gets going.
But we are going to plump for an India win as their all-round strength ought to give them the edge.
