(Cricket news) The first semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled for tomorrow as Group 1 table toppers England will meet New Zealand for a place in the final. Both the teams have won 4 matches out of 5 so far as they have 8 points each as England has the better run rate.
New Zealand are currently on a 4 match winning streak as they look to add the World Test Championship title in their trophy cabinet. Opener Martin Guptill has topped the batting charts for the team with 176 runs in 5 matches as he scored 56 ball 93 against Scotland which has been the only fifty plus score for the team in the tournament. Captain Kane Williamson has scored 126 runs in 5 matches with one 35 plus score while opener Daryl Mitchell has scored 125 runs with his highest score being 49 against India.
Amongst the bowlers, Trent Boult is the highest wicket taker with 11 wickets as Ish Sodhi comes in second with 8 wickets while Tim Southee comes in third with 7 wickets. The trio have taken a wicket in every match, Southee has not conceded more than 25 runs in a match so far as he has shown maturity in the shortest format. The blackcaps are the favourites in the semifinal as their bowlers have performed better than the england bowlers which will play a major factor in the match.
England started the tournament with a 4 win streak which was ended by South Africa in their last match. It made no difference to England’s run to the semifinal as their place was well assured before the match, England have batted second in 4 matches out of the five and have won three of them. Jos Butler has scored 240 runs in 5 matches and will look to again give the side a winning total as the rest of the batters have failed to connect the ball to the bat.
They will look to bowl first against the Black caps in the semifinal as they have a well balanced bowling attack. Adil Rashid has 8 wickets in 5 matches while Moeen Ali has 7 in four matches as he has taken a wicket everytime he has bowled for the team. Tymal Mills has also taken 7 wickets in four matches and leads among the fast bowlers along with Chris Jordan who has taken 6 wickets in 5 matches. Moeen Ali has not conceded more than 27 runs in a match and will look to continue his economical spell in the semifinal. England will look to bowl first against New Zealand as they can have a better chance of winning then.
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