It’s the ICC World T20 semi-finals and what a line up we have. We’re sure to see some exciting, thrilling and nail-biting cricket over the next few days as we have two mouth-watering fixtures. Eoin Morgan will lead his England side today as they take on the Blackcaps in the first semi-final.
Semi-Final 1 – New Zealand vs England
After England’s dramatic win over Sri Lanka on Saturday they now move on to the ICC World T20 semi-finals where they will play the undefeated New Zealand in Delhi.
England will face a stern test to get back to their first World T20 Final since they won the tournament in 2010. The New Zealanders were undefeated in the group stages with good all-round wins over India, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
[quote cite=”Eoin Morgan, England T20 Captain”]There is a lot of excitement around the group. Having done enough to get out of the group stages and play in a World Twenty20 semi-final, the guys are really excited.[/quote]
England will be looking to rely heavily on Joe Root who took a game clinching catch towards the end of final group game with Sri Lanka. Root has also been instrumental with the bat with the highlight being a superb 83-run knock which helped England chase down South Africa’s 229 run total. Root has averaged 42 throughout the tournament so far at a strike rate of 150.00. England will need to pay special attention to Martin Guptill who has been in fine form with scores of 39 against Australia followed by an impressive 80 against Pakistan. We’re sure to see some big shots in this one!
This will be the 14th time these two sides have met in T20 action with England currently having bragging rights with eight wins to New Zealand’s four with one game ending in a no result. The game takes place on Wednesday afternoon and starts at 2.30pm.
Semi-Final 2 – West Indies vs India
Tournament hosts India are lucky to be in the semi-finals; despite losing to New Zealand after being bowled out for 79 and only just scraping past Bangladesh they managed to get through to what was effectively a knock out game with Australia. Virat Kholi has been their star player who struck a magnificent 82 from 51 balls to chase down Australia’s 161 with five balls to spare.
Their opponents West Indies cruised through to the semi-finals with three wins from their first three games. Despite that, they will be looking to improve from their final group game performance which saw them lose to minnows Afghanistan. They will be looking to Chris Gayle to rediscover the form which saw him smash an unbelievable 100 from just 48 balls in their opening group game against England which no doubt has been the best and most entertaining innings of this tournament.
These two sides have only met four times in T20 action with the scores currently level with two wins apiece. It’s India vs West Indies and Kholi against Gayle in what promises to be a hugely exciting encounter. You can follow the game from Thursday afternoon at 2.30pm and see who will face the winner of the England vs New Zealand game in the ICC World T20 Final.
We would love to hear from you! Tweet us @Edgbaston your predictions and who you think will be the match winners in both of these fixtures.
