In the second semi-final of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, India will be taking on England at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana.
India is currently one of the two teams that have still not been beaten in this tournament. In the group stage, they won three of their four matches while one match was abandoned due to rain. Then in the Super Eights stage, they won all three matches and finished at the top of their group.
On the other hand, it took England three matches to get their first win, as their first match was abandoned and the Three Lions were handed a defeat in their second match. They won their last two matches in the group stages as well, while in the Super Eights, they won two and lost one match.
What has happened so far?
India started their journey against Ireland, whom they defeated by 8 wickets. The match against Pakistan was a closely contested affair, but India eventually won by 6 runs. After beating the United States of America by 7 wickets and with the match against Canada getting washed out, India qualified for the Super Eights stage.
In the next round, Rohit Sharma’s men started the campaign with two comprehensive victories, beating Afghanistan by 47 runs and Bangladesh by 50 runs. India defeated Australia by 24 runs in the last match and hence finished at the top of the Super Eights Group 1 points table.
England’s journey started off with an abandoned fixture against Scotland, while in their next match, Australia defeated them by 36 runs. However, Jos Buttler’s team qualified for the Super Eights with two consecutive wins, beating Oman by 8 wickets and Namibia by 41 runs.
In the Super Eights, England defeated hosts West Indies by 8 wickets in their first match, but the winning run was halted when South Africa beat them by 7 runs in the second match. But that being said, England made it to the semi-final with a 10-wicket win against the United States of America.
Head to Head Record
There is hardly anything to separate these two teams on head-to-head records, but India is ahead of England by the barest of margins. These two teams have locked horns 23 times in T20I cricket, where India has won 12 matches while England won 11 matches.
However, the last two T20I meetings between these two teams saw England emerging victoriously on both times. Incidentally, the last meeting was a T20 World Cup semi-final as well, back in 2022, where England defeated India by 10 wickets at the Adelaide Oval. Buttler and Alex Hales scored 80 and 86 runs respectively for the 2022 champions in that match.
Key Players
Kuldeep Yadav will be India’s X-factor at the Providence Stadium in Guyana
Kuldeep Yadav (India): This match will be played at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, where the spinners are always expected to get help from the surface. Hence, India’s X-factor in this match could be Kuldeep Yadav, who has been in great form in the West Indies leg of the tournament.
Having missed out on the matches in New York, Kuldeep played the last three matches and picked up 7 wickets at an average of 10.71 and an economy rate of just over 6. He started with a spell of 2/32 against Afghanistan, which was followed by a three-wicket haul against Bangladesh. In the last match against Australia, he took 2 wickets by conceding 24 runs.
Jos Buttler (England): While India will be relying on their bowlers to do well, England has always been a batting-heavy team and their X-factor will be none other than their captain, Buttler. The wicket-keeper is currently the Three Lions’ highest run-scorer, with 191 runs at an average of nearly 50 and a strike rate of over 150.
Buttler’s journey started with a 42-run knock against Australia, after which he scored 24 not out against Oman. After being dismissed for a duck against Namibia, he scored 25 runs against West Indies and 17 runs against South Africa. But his best knock came in the last match against the United States of America, where he scored 83 runs in 38 balls with the help of 6 fours and 7 sixes.
Predicted XIs
India: Rohit Sharma ©, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler © (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
Prediction
A few factors make India the favorites for this match. Firstly, the pitch at the Providence Stadium will suit India as they play three spinners in their playing XI. In addition, Rohit’s team will be high on confidence after being unbeaten till this far, while England has had multiple slip-ups. Hence, it will not be a surprise if India qualifies for the final.