GUYANA: England have won the toss and opted to field first against India in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Providence Stadium on Thursday.
PLAYING XIs
Both India and England are unchanged.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
England: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley.
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Speaking at the toss, England captain Jos Buttler termed Providence Stadium’s pitch a decent surface and expressed his hope that it would support his decision to bowl first.
“Looks a decent surface, everyone’s talked about the low bounce at this ground. With the rain around we hope it’s an advantage to bowl first,” said Buttler.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma contradicted his English counterpart’s remarks, stating that the pitch looks dry so they want to put runs on the board.
“Weather seems clear. Big game and we want to put runs on the board. [Pitch] looks a little dry, hopefully, it gets slower and slower,” Sharma said.
HEAD TO HEAD
India and England have faced each other 23 times in T20 Internationals with the formers having a slight edge in the head-to-head record.
Matches 23, India 12, England
FORM GUIDE
Both India and England are going strong in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 but the 2007 champions boast a superior track record as they are unbeaten in the tournament.
Whereas, England, who twice found themselves in a state of bother, brushed aside the uncertainty surrounding their future in the mega event with statement victories over Oman in the group stage and the USA in the Super Eights to become the first side to book their spot in the semi-finals.
India: W, W, W, NR, W (most recent first)
England: W, L, W, W, W
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