T20 World Cup Semi-final, IND vs ENG: Key player battles
What's the story
India and England are gearing up to lock horns in the second semi-final of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The high-voltage contest will take place at the Adelaide Oval on November 10. While India finished atop the Group 2 standings with four wins in five games, England finished second in Group 1 with three wins. We decode the key player battles.
#1
KL Rahul vs Mark Wood
After enduring a lean run at the start of the tournament, KL Rahul has found his mojo back. He smashed half-centuries in his last two outings. Speedster Mark Wood, who has scalped nine wickets in four games so far, will aim to dismiss Rahul cheaply. Although Wood reported general body stiffness recently, he is most likely to take the field against India.
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KL Rahul's struggles vs England
It must be noted that Rahul has struggled in the powerplay overs against England in T20Is. He has a strike rate of 108.73 in the first six overs against the Three Lions. The dasher, however, has a T20I century under his belt against the Brits.
#2
Suryakumar Yadav vs Sam Curran
Top-ranked T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav has been batting on a different level altogether lately. He has smashed 225 runs in the tournament so far with his strike rate being over 190. Sam Curran will have the onus to keep SKY quiet in the end overs. The left-arm pacer boasts a sensational economy rate of 4.8 in death overs (16-20) in the tournament.
#3
Arshdeep Singh vs Jos Buttler
With 10 wickets in five games, Arshdeep Singh is India's leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far. As he has particularly been brilliant with the new ball, England skipper Jos Buttler must tackle him with precision. Notably, Buttler has not been at his best in the tournament, having scored 119 runs in four games. Hence, Arshdeep would back himself to dismiss Buttler cheaply.
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Jos Buttler vs left-arm pacers
While Buttler likes to take on left-arm pacers, he has often fallen prey to them. In T20Is, left-arm fast bowlers have dismissed the England skipper 10 times in 31 innings. However, the dasher has a brilliant strike rate of 157.36 against bowlers of this category.
#4
Ravichandran Ashwin vs Ben Stokes
Having dismissed Stokes 15 times in international cricket, Ashwin would be confident of keeping the England dasher quiet. Notably, Stokes has slammed just 58 runs so far in the tourney at a paltry strike rate of 105.45. He needs to put up a better show in the knock-out game. Ashwin, on the other hand, has scalped six wickets in five games so far (ER: 7.52).
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Pitch report, timing, and broadcast details
The Adelaide Oval will host this affair. Sides batting first have won seven of 14 T20Is here. The venue has produced plenty of nail-biting thrillers in the tourney underway, and anything around 155-165 could be a competitive total. Both pacers and spinners could be influential. The match will be telecast live on Star Sports Network (1:30 PM IST) and live-streamed on the Hotstar app.