India’s journey to the ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals has been quite an easy affair. In their five group league matches, they have endured only one defeat against South Africa and entered the final four as the group topper with 8 points. The Men in Blue will be hoping to bring their second title home when they square off against England in the second semi-final on Thursday at the Adelaide Oval.
T20 World Cup: Full coverage | Schedule | Results | Points Table | News | Photos
On the other hand, England have been struggling a bit in the tournament and have failed to show their dominance. They endured a disappointing defeat against Ireland in their second fixture and then somehow turned the tables around in the last group game against Sri Lanka, which turned into a virtual quarter-final. Notably, the Jos Buttler-led unit missed the vital game against Australia due to rain. Apart from them, New Zealand and Australia also finished the group stage with 7 points. But, the English brigade, along with New Zealand, qualified as per the Net Run Rate.
Read: Shaky Indian top order and other areas England could target in semi-final
The brilliant form of some of the Indian batters — Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul — can immensely benefit them while hitting big shots over the shorter square boundaries at the Adelaide Oval. The bowling department has also been doing well. Young pacer Arshdeep Singh deserves much praise for showing enough maturity while bowling in pressure situations. Looking at the England side, the fitness of Mark Wood and Dawid Malan is a major concern for them, with reports saying that Phil Salt will be brought in for Malan ahead for the clash. The batting unit will need to develop more composure while chasing any target.
Weather Update:
The India vs England semi-final is set to take place at the Adelaide Oval. Looking at the present weather conditions in Australia, the day will be somewhat cloudy but there is no chance of rain. The temperatures will hover between 14 and 22 degrees Celsius during the match. The wind speed can go around 15-30 km/h and the weather will remain humid (72-82 per cent).
Predicted Playing XIs:
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami.
England: Jos Buttler (c) (wk), Alex Hales, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.