When England and India play in their T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final on Thursday in Guyana, Moeen Ali thinks that England will need to perform at their highest level to defeat India, but he also hopes that they can capitalise on the 10-wicket hammering they handed the same opponents at the same stage of the 2022 competition.
The first team to reach the semi-finals was England, but they had to stay in Barbados for an additional two nights after defeating the USA by ten wickets at Kensington Oval. India’s victory against Australia in St. Lucia on Monday sealed the location of their semi-final, and on Tuesday morning they landed in Georgetown via charter aeroplane. India took off on Monday evening.
For England, it’s a step into the unknown. They haven’t competed at Providence Stadium since the 2010 tournament, when they were eliminated by the West Indies and only managed to advance from their first-round group by virtue of a draw with Ireland. The only member of their team to have participated in a T20 match at the location is Chris Jordan, who made two appearances there during the 2019 CPL.
Though not much experience exists, India did play two Twenty20 Internationals at Providence in August of last year, and some of the players also participated in a T20I in 2019. Whichever team can adjust to the circumstances the best will win. “I’ve never been there, but before England’s flight, I heard it’s an amazing place,” Moeen remarked. “You can expect some sort of spin and a tough-ish wicket.”
Moeen called England’s experience at the World Cup thus far “a rollercoaster ride”.
They would have been eliminated in the first round in Antigua if there had been an additional hour of rain. In addition, even though they advanced to their fourth consecutive T20 World Cup semifinal, they have only defeated one Full Member team in this competition—West Indies. “It was quite difficult to get here,” he remarked. “But it’s nice to be here, when you’re two games away from winning the World Cup.”
In contrast, India has won all three of their completed matches in the last three weeks. They further cemented their position as the tournament favourites on Monday when they defeated Australia, eliminating the 50-over world champions. “They looked very, very strong, like they did in the last World Cup,” Moeen stated.
A flaming Jos Buttler makes a substitution in the T20 World Cup 2024 match between England and the USA at Bridgetown, Barbados on June 23, 2024.
Rohit Sharma, who batted first in the order, was very impressive, smashing 92 off 41 balls. “He’s a world-class player – one of the best players in the world,” Moeen stated. Sometimes all you can do in T20s is hope they get out. That’s the thing about cricket, particularly T20 cricket: no matter how good you play, you’re not always guaranteed runs. However, they have additional players.
“They’re simply an amazing side. To defeat them, we will need to perform at our highest level because they have everything covered. It’s a terrific challenge, much like the last time we played them in the Australian semifinal, so I’m actually looking forward to it. It will be difficult, and we must prepare and perform exceptionally well.”
The most memorable feature of the Adelaide semi-final was the unbroken 170-run partnership between Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, which set up England’s triumph with four overs remaining. After being assigned to bat first, India managed just 62 for 2 off their opening 10 overs, and Hardik Pandya’s late hitting proved unable to lift them to a winning score.
The primary thing that sticks in Moeen’s mind about the game is “just how clinical” England’s preparation was. “But [also] how we handled them, and our bat skills were amazing. We used the ball to build up the game on that wicket. Even when they managed to elude us in the end, it was a little after midnight. Both the day and the show were excellent.”
Following India’s victory against Australia in the semi-final in Adelaide, Arshdeep Singh, who bowled two overs without a wicket, was hesitant to look ahead. “It’s exciting when you come to World Cups and in the knockout stages you have really nice opponents,” he stated. “But our motto here is ‘stay where your feet are’ and right now, we are just trying to enjoy this moment.”
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