ICC T20 World Cup Semi final: England Vs New Zealand – Match Preview

Today the first ICC T20 World Cup Semi final will held at Feroz Shah Kotla ground,Delhi. The first semifinal will see the blackcaps going against the lions, Yes it’s England Vs New Zealand in the first semifinal today.This game will be an exciting battle between New Zealand’s bowlers vs England’s batsmen.

Let’s have a look at the various aspects of the match in our match preview

Pitch & Condition

The Pitch at Delhi is always expected to be slow &  today also it’s expected to be pretty much the same. Though  the pitch prepared for this match appear to have a little patches of grass, though it wouldn’t matter much expect making the pitch a  little more friendly for batting.

The temperature is supposed to be around 30 c while there is no predictions of rain so far. The dew factor is supposed to come to play in the second innings.

Team News –

England – They are expected to Go with the same playing 11 as the last match, There strength lies in their batting and the pitch here will suit them. Plus the fact that they already have played twice here would help them

Expected playing (XI) – Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Liam Plunkett.

New Zealand – Their team selection has surprised us all, but they were spot on with the selection so far. They have picked their team according to the surface in all the matches, so here also we expect them to the same.

Expected playing (XI) – Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (capt), Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell McClenaghan.

Stats and trivia

• This is only the second time both England and New Zealand have reached the semifinals of a World T20.
• Root is the second-highest run-scorer of batsmen who have only played the Super 10s stage of the tournament, with 168 runs at a strike rate of 150.
• In the middles overs (overs 7-15), England have the best run rate (8.64) and New Zealand the best economy rate (4.83) in the World T20 2016.
• New Zealand have conceded just two fours between overs 16-20 in their four matches in this World T20.

Here’s what the captains had to say about the match today

Eoin Morgan.

I can’t quite believe how far we’ve come overall in our white-ball cricket. The guys that we’ve selected have done outstandingly well and shown a great amount of attitude in learning. It’s not always easy to come up against very strong sides who knock you back on a day-to-day basis, but every question that’s been asked of us we’ve come back with either a counter-answer or a more aggressive option.

Kane Williamson

We know they are a big threat. Certainly we saw that in the one-day series we played in England. When I saw the team on paper, you knew that it is going to be a tough challenge. Guys that play tough cricket and aggressive cricket. It’s no surprise to me that they are in the semi-final of the World Cup.In terms of Mike Hesson’s and my perspective, we will pick horses for courses against the opposition. That philosophy won’t change.

Betting odds (betfair)

• England to win: 20/21
• New Zealand to win: 4/5

Live Telecast – You can see the live telecast of the match in India on Star Sports 1 & 3.

Our Prediction – A tough match to predict it would be a close call but we are betting on New Zealand going to the finals for the first time.