The eighth edition of the T20 World Cup has entered its final week with India taking on England in Adelaide a day after New Zealand take on Pakistan in the first semi-final in Sydney.
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Both India and England had qualified for the knockouts largely along expected lines, the two former champions having been billed among the strong contenders for the trophy besides title holders and hosts Australia and last year’s runners-up New Zealand.
Their journey to the semi-finals however, wasn’t as smooth as they would’ve liked. India’s five-wicket loss at the hands of South Africa complicated matters for them and they did not seal their qualification until the Proteas’ back-to-back defeats against Pakistan and Netherlands. Once they were through, they came up with a clinical 71-run victory against Zimbabwe in which they ticked pretty much all the boxes and sent a warning to their opponents ahead of the big game at the Adelaide Oval.
England, on the other hand, were also a last-minute entry into the semi-finals, their passage to the knockouts getting hindered with a shock defeat at the hands of Ireland along with their marquee clash against tournament hosts Australia in Melbourne getting rained off. Thanks to Australia’s inferior Net Run Rate as well as their victory over Sri Lanka in their final Super 12 clash, they finished behind Group 1 toppers New Zealand and managed to pip the ‘Old Enemy’.
Ahead of the India-England showdown, the first time the two sides are meeting in a semi-final at the men’s World Cup (ODI or T20I) in 35 years, we take a look at some of the areas where Jos Buttler’s side could hurt the Men in Blue:
Shaky top order
Perhaps the biggest are of concern for the Men in Blue and a key area for the opposition to target will be the Indian top-order, given their all-too familiar tendency to implode in crucial matches. A similar collapse took place during India’s high-voltage clash against Pakistan, where they were reduced to 31/4 in a chase of 160 before being rescued by a blinder of a knock from Virat Kohli and a supporting act from Hardik Pandya.
England will hope their key pace option Mark Wood, who has reported stiffness ahead of the clash, regains full fitness and is able to run through the Indian top three the way the Kiwi seamers did in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.
Powerplay burst
Alex Hales’ return to the England white-ball setup following the end of the Morgan Era has proved a blessing in disguise for the team — the Nottinghamshire batter is currently their leading run-scorer in the ongoing tournament (125 runs; AVE: 31.25; SR: 131.57). More importantly, he has forged a lethal opening partnership with skipper Buttler at the top of the order, the pair adding 81 and 75 runs for the first wicket in their last two outings.
India’s bowling unit has shown plenty of promise in the powerplay overs thanks mainly to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, along with tidy overs from Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami. However, the Buttler-Hales pairing could put India under pressure from the word go and put the game beyond their reach should they click and click big come Thursday.
Death overs
Who can forget India’s struggles in the death overs in recent tournament, especially in the crucial 19th over where Bhuvneshwar got smashed to the cleaners not once but twice during the Men in Blue’s underwhelming Asia Cup campaign. And given England’s long batting lineup and proven finishers in their lineup in Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali the Englishmen are never truly out of the game.
If there is one player England would want batting in a tense situation, it would be Ben Stokes. A feeling of certainty around him.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 5, 2022
Stokes stood out in England’s crucial victory over Sri Lanka last week with a patient 42 in Sydney, seeing his side through after the team felt the jitters after losing wickets in a heap in the middle overs. And it’s not just the star-studded middle-order; England have arguably the longest tail in the world where even a Chris Woakes or a Mark Wood can walk out to bat and hit the winning runs.
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