England won the toss and elected to play India first in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 to be played at the Providence Stadium, Guyana, on Thursday.
England captain Jos Buttler defended his decision to bowl first by saying that, with the rain, it could be an advantage.
“It looks like a decent surface, everyone has talked about the low bounce on this pitch. With the rain around, we hope it will be an advantage to bowl first,” Buttler said at the toss.
Both teams go with the same playing eleven from their last game.
The draw was delayed to the wet, drizzling outfields of Guyana, but ground staff worked hard all morning to ensure conditions were good enough for the match to begin.
It is worth mentioning that a reserve day was reserved for the first semifinal but not for the second. However, to facilitate the completion of the match, the ICC allocated a total of 250 minutes of extra time for the semi-final. This will give ground crews enough time to prepare the field if weather permits.
In the event that the match is eliminated, the team that finished best in its Super 8 group will qualify for the final. Therefore, India is in a better position than England as they topped Group 1 of Super 8 by winning all their matches, while England finished second with two wins from three matches.
The winner of the second semi-final between India and England will face South Africa in the final on Saturday, June 29. The Proteas beat Afghanistan in the first semi-final today by nine wickets in Trinidad.
Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
England: Jos Buttler (captain and week), Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
