T20 World Cup: Clash of the Titans awaits as India take on England in second semi-final

Guwahati: A high-octane clash is on the cards as India takes on England in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Thursday.

The India vs England (IND vs ENG ) T20 World Cup semifinal match will begin at 1:30 pm (IST). Toss will take place at 1:00 pm

India made a strong statement with their performance in the Super 12s, winning four out of their five matches and finishing at the top of Group 2. A loss to South Africa was the sole blip in an otherwise consistent group-stage showing.

The Indian batters have put on quite a show as well. All of Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have been in strong form and will be looking to take that forward into the knock-outs. But skipper Rohit Sharma has been struggling to get big scores and his team will be hoping he can step up.

On the bowling front, all the three frontline pacers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh have delivered impressive performances as well. All-rounder Hardik Pandya and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have also made significant contributions with the ball, claiming eight and six wickets in this campaign respectively. Only Axar Patel’s bowling returns have been a matter of concern, with the spinner possessing an economy rate of more than 9 so far. It remains to be seen if India opt to play Yuzvendra Chahal as an additional spin option to target England’s middle order.

England bounced back well after losing to Ireland in the Super 12s. Qualifying for the semi-finals was looking quite difficult when the match against Australia was washed out, but Jos Buttler’s men delivered strong performances against New Zealand and Sri Lanka to make their way into the final four. 

The main strength of this English side is their batting, which runs right down to number 10. The line-up is full of power-hitters right from the top, which means they can really run away with the game on decks that are good for batting and venues where the boundaries are short. The Adelaide Oval fulfills both requisites and that’s why this English batting unit could be a very difficult proposition to handle for Indian bowlers.

Predicted Playing XIs

India

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

England

Alex Hales, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Dawid Malan/Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood/Chris Jordan