Which side will win the 1st ICC T20 World Cup Semi-Final between England and New Zealand?

[MenInG]

The world’s top-ranked T20I side have turned up on the big stage.

Eoin Morgan’s England are an intimidating white-ball outfit, with their aggression with the bat one of the standout features of T20 international cricket over the past World Cup cycle.

But few would have looked to England’s bowling attack as a strength to lean on, particularly in the absence of Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran.

Yet it is that bowling attack that saw England dominate the first-half of their Group 1 campaign, and ultimately bowled them to a net run rate advantage that helped them top the group.

A ten-run loss to South Africa could be seen as England losing form at precisely the wrong time. Or alternatively it could be viewed as a perfect high-pressure test run before the semi-finals. The result in the final four will suggest which is true.

But with Jos Buttler at his very best and England’s powerful middle order beginning to find their range-hitting feet, they will head into tonight's semi-final full of confidence.

Cricket World Cup champions, reigning T20 No.1s and 2016 T20 World Cup runners up; England are just two games away from another famous chapter in their legacy.

Road to the semi-finals

England got their campaign off to spectacular fashion, bowling West Indies all out for 55 and chasing it down in just 8.2 overs for a crushing first win that ultimately made the difference in net run rate to send them through. Moeen Ali set up the win with two early wickets, but it was his fellow spinner Adil Rashid who returned the pick of the figures – four wickets for two runs in 2.2 overs.

Bangladesh were the next to fall foul of the England juggernaut, with Ali again in the wickets before Jason Roy hit a quickfire 61 in an easy chase. And Jos Buttler’s blistering 71 made astonishingly short work of a chase of 126 against Australia, with England reaching it in just 11.4 overs.

The huge NRR advantage set up by that trio of crushing wins gave England a huge chance of progressing coming into the final two matches of their Super 12 campaign. But they were made to work hard in Sharjah, with Sri Lanka pushing them close despite Buttler’s brilliant century.

And defeat to South Africa in the final group game ultimately didn’t cost England top spot, despite both teams and Australia all finishing tied on eight points, with that positive NRR doing its job in the end.

What’s worked for them

The form of opening batter Jos Buttler has been one of the standout features of the tournament. Buttler in this sort of form can take down any attack, as he proved by dismantling the differing styles of Sri Lanka and Australia. The whole of England’s top-seven looks strong going into the semi-finals, even with the absence of Roy.

But it was the Powerplay bowling that has been the biggest fillip for England at the tournament. The injury to Jofra Archer robbed England of one of the best Powerplay bowlers in the world, and Sam Curran’s absence also denied the team one of their regular options in the first six. But Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes have been superb in that role during the tournament so far. Ali has taken seven wickets across four innings, returning an impressively low economy rate in the process. And Woakes’ ability to move the ball early on has seen him become the key part of England’s Powerplay plan.

Causes for concern

Roy’s injury and absence from the final four is a blow to England. The opening batter’s form and aggressive approach has been a cornerstone of the team’s strategy in white-ball cricket over recent years.

There are a number of ways that England could replace him in the team, but all require a batting-order reshuffle that could prove destabilising at precisely the wrong moment.

And both Sri Lanka and South Africa showed that England’s bowling attack can really be got at, particularly if opponents can restrict their losses in the Powerplay.

Jos Buttler – The tournament’s top-scorer has been the obvious star man for England through the Super 12 stage. His century against Sri Lanka was the highlight of course, but over five matches Buttler has scored 240 runs at an average of 120.00 and a strike-rate of 155.84. Those are astonishing numbers.

Chris Jordan – The form of England’s experience death-over specialist was a big concern coming into the tournament. Jordan had been extremely expensive for some time in an England shirt, and would have been at severe risk of being dropped had injuries not begun to mount up. But Jordan’s returns have been excellent, especially in those overs at the end of the innings. If the 33-year-old can deliver at the business end it makes England’s attack a far more stable unit.

https://www.t20worldcup.com/news/2341064

 

[Hassaan HS]

Q. Facing New Zealand again. You won the semifinal against them the last T20 World Cup. Of course that was the 50-over World Cup final. How much are you looking for this meeting?

EOIN MORGAN: We can't wait. Obviously a big achievement within itself coming through the group stage like we did, topping the table. But now it's all about producing as close to your best as we can. We know how good New Zealand are.

We know how consistent they've been over the last number of World Cups, not only the recent ones but you look further and beyond Kane's role as captain. New Zealand have always been extremely competitive in and around semifinals and finals, consistently, for some time now. So we're looking forward to the challenge.

Q. Unlike those two meetings I mentioned earlier, you won't have Jason Roy this time. What does his absence do to the side and the balance of the side?

EOIN MORGAN: I think like losing any of your experienced players, you can't really replace that experience that Jason has. He's played integral parts in our two previous World Cup campaigns. So very similarly to other guys that have been injured or have missed the tournament through injury.

Other guys have found something else within themselves to either try and fill that gap or contribute in a different way to the team.

If you look right from the very beginning of our selection process leading into the World Cup, we've got a number of big name players missing from our squad and that's continued both pre-tournament with Tom Curran and into the tournament with Jason Roy and Tymal Mills. I think of all the things we've done well throughout this tournament that are probably the strongest point has been the resilience within our squad to be able to find a way to move forward and forge on.

Q. Today the independent commission for equity in cricket have launched their call for evidence asking stakeholders in the English game to come forward and share their experiences of discrimination. From your point, why is it important to share the experience so the commission can get as accurate as possible a view, I suppose, of the English game?

EOIN MORGAN: The last bit of your question was crackling. Do you mind repeating it?

Q. I wonder why from your point of view it is important that people do share those experiences of discrimination with the commission so that they can gather as accurate a reflection I guess as possible of the English game.

EOIN MORGAN: I think in a time of change, I think all opinions and examples need to be heard in order to, I suppose, find the best solution in trying to move forward and make things better for the future generations.

Q. There's lots of interest back here about these excellent performances that your team is putting together. It's another excellent tournament for England and there's of course a lot of coverage of still what's going on at Yorkshire. What do you do as a captain to balance up those two things going on? I'm sure there's still a lot of interest and concern in your dressing room about what's ongoing from Yorkshire. As a captain do you try to shelter the players from that or do you encourage and embrace any concerns that the players might have?

EOIN MORGAN: No, we definitely don't shelter anything that's going on, particularly things as serious and as relevant to our squad as anything that we've ever done, really.

So when matters of such a serious nature ever arise, particularly when it comes to discrimination and bear in mind that we talk about discrimination quite a lot because in our group there are a lot of diverse, a lot of diversity.

So we try and share our storeys as much as we can. We're all products of county cricket and at some stage throughout our careers county cricket has had a substantial role to play in the position we're in at the moment.

And I think after winning the 2019 World Cup and becoming, I suppose, a more formidable side with a bigger platform, that has allowed us to feel comfortable enough to continue to tell our different storeys along the road and ultimately feel comfortable within our own skin to play great cricket on the field but also to be a really strong role model on the field.

And what's going on in Yorkshire, we've continued to chat about things and how it might affect younger generations.

Being at the forefront of change both on and off the field for us is not always easy. Particularly at the beginning.

And I think we're at one of those stages right now for Yorkshire. And within the group we talk about seeing the bigger picture down the line and the huge benefits we will see coming into that county.

Q. I guess when you walk out to this big occasion again tomorrow and followers of English cricket, whatever their race or background or culture, want to look at your team and think I could belong on that team. Do you feel that's the case now? Do you feel the importance of that?

EOIN MORGAN: Certainly within the changing, we do. We feel comfortable about talking about things like it simply because we think of ourselves as younger cricketers. We all come from different backgrounds.

And we all want to be able to share our dream that we've dreamt about for so long as kids and have been so looking to live that dream.

We want young kids to be able to picture that but also picture a pathway in a way to be able to achieve it. So the things we do during this World Cup and beyond are very important in contributing so.

Q. From a cricket perspective, would you accept that you're strong favourites for this match?

EOIN MORGAN: I wouldn't say strong favourites. New Zealand have a full strength squad. We've obviously been hampered with a lot of injuries throughout this tournament. We're playing really good cricket. The guys are extremely excited about the challenge against New Zealand and potentially the opportunity that might follow that. But we need to play really good cricket in order to beat them.

Q. Wondered whether you made a decision on who would open the batting in place of Jason, Johnny is going to step up there and how the team might all be altered?

EOIN MORGAN: Within the group we've made a decision. Not willing to share that, unfortunately. But the balance of the sides will still be determined on how the wicket looks and how we matchup against the Black Caps.

Q. Do you have a word on one of your players, Liam Livingstone and how excited you are about his progress. I know he's not one of the more experienced guys yet, but we saw a glimpse of what he's capable with that huge blow in Sharjah. And obviously we've seen him score a T20 100 in the summer. I guess he's kind of replacing Ben Stokes in terms of that sort of three-dimensional cricketer, kind of doing everything for you out there. Just what a talent is he and could this be, I guess, a chance for him really to explode on the global stage?

EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I'm a big fan of Liam. He's a guy that has the ability to contribute a bit like Ben, at any stage of the game. And he plays a brand of cricket that makes it easy for him to come in and settle into the side.

We want him to be that attacking aggressive player who takes the game on the whole time. I think the role that he's played, particularly with the bat, is not an easy role to play, batting in the lower middle order, to continue to take high risks. But he seems to want to do that, which is great because if you have somebody who comes in who starts thinking about himself, it creates a bit of an issue around role clarity and what guys are contributing to the team.

So he's been extremely selfless when he's come in and done that role. And all we would like to do is to continue that, because when he gets going he's very difficult to stop. He's one of the cleanest strikers on the ball we have within our squad. He's brilliant to have around.

Q. Does he now take over from Jos as the biggest hitter on your side; do you think he's certainly the biggest hitter in this tournament?

EOIN MORGAN: I don't know, because that whatever you call the range finder thing that projects how big 6s are hit, I think that was on the blink in Dubai when we played against Australia.

Q. The opener, the big talking point, I won't press you for names, but obviously you're blessed with top-order option guys who have plenty of experience at the top of the order. Was it a difficult decision to sort of decide who would come in for Jason alongside Jos?

EOIN MORGAN: I don't think it is. I think, like you mentioned, we are blessed with guys who can bat at the top of the order and actually who want to bat at the top of the order.

If you look around, the highest runs scored, the big name players, they all want to bat or are batting in the top three in every team.

And we're lucky that we have guys who queue up and want to bat in that top three, which is great because they want to go head to head with the big named players in the tournament and big named bowlers of the opposition.

So I think we're in a very good position that we have a number of guys to choose from.

Q. Since the 2015 World Cup, you played a lot of series that have been gone into the last match. But you've often tended to prevail in those matches and in tournament games, thinking about the 2016 semifinal and the 2017 Champions Trophy, grouped in the 2019 World Cup twice. I know the past doesn't guarantee the future, but is there any slight edge you can take from that when the pressure is on, that bit more intense, you tend to have the upper hand in the last few years?

EOIN MORGAN: I don't think so. I've probably taken more confidence from recent performances and when there have been either difficult decisions to make or an opportunity to take the game away from the opposition we've been able to do that.

And I think being in a frame of mind where you're aware enough to recognize situations by that I think is an even better situation than previous games that we've gone into because I think in those particular games that you mentioned I'm not sure how many guys actually played those games. It will probably be half of the team and say not three-quarters of the majority of side.

Again, it's no good if only half of you take confidence from that; you need the full experience.

Q. You mentioned the guys who will be missing tomorrow. Given all the big names that you've had to do without in this tournament, where would reaching the final under those circumstances rank among your various white ball achievements as England captain?

EOIN MORGAN: That's a good question. I think it would be a really strong representation of what the 50-over side have achieved since 2015. I think we had a glimpse of that during our summer when we had to replace 15 players against Pakistan and they ended up beating Pakistan's strongest ODI team 3-0.

I think that was a good instance of an English cricketer. But I think if we could achieve something like that it would be, yeah, quite close to, oh, you might only get to the final and lose, but getting to the final would be a hell of an achievement.

Q. There's been a bit of interest in the signal system that you guys use as a team. Could you just talk about the kind of importance and use of that for you as a captain?

EOIN MORGAN: We started using it -- the start of 2020, as, I suppose, an instrument to try and make me be a better captain. There's no better way of calling in decisions that I make on the sideline than remembering exactly what the black-and-white decision might have been. So it's trying to integrate all the information with exactly what's going on in my brain and throughout the game.

It has helped my captaincy at different stages, just for various reasons. It's given a different input. It's helped myself and Jos come to better decisions at different times and, equally, sometimes we've gone against it and it's worked as well.

Q. Is there a particular decision that you think that signal has really helped with?

EOIN MORGAN: There's not been a standout one yet, no. I mean, you think of a big decision to make in a game which probably would have been the biggest decision of the tournament so far, was to bowl Chris Woakes those three balls, (indiscernible) against Sri Lanka. Again there's no signal for that. There's no question for that. Everything -- there's no answer for that. Everything is in the heat of the moment, who do you bowl into on the short side? Is it your all-arounder, or do you waste one of your genuine bowlers with an over there.

Q. And as a knockout match, is that kind of one of the things you want to guard against is, players go into their shell a bit and kind of being a bit risk-averse rather than playing the aggressive kind of brand that you like to play?

EOIN MORGAN: We haven't done that in about four years. So I'd be very disappointed.

Q. England has a very solid white ball depth. It's something to be proud of. I wanted to know, does losing players not make you bog down? Because if any other teams lose players like Ben Stokes, Roy, that calibre, they might really get bogged down. But England comes out and every new player shines in every match.

EOIN MORGAN: I think it's a really good compliment to the changing room and all the players and maybe more the support staff and the coaching staff who create an environment where young players can come in and thrive.

It's a great culture to be able to come in and both learn and thrive at the same time. And it's seemed to work for us for some time. We've always talked about having a strength in depth within our squads as a whole.

There have been some instances where we've had to put out replacing teams, but I think in doing so you could have 30 or 40 players within your domestic setup that could play international cricket or have the ability to do so.

But if the right environment isn't set up, it doesn't matter what 11 you pick. You're not going to perform as an inexperienced player, you're going to have to have go with experienced players the whole time.

Q. You people are doing well in this World Cup and now in the knockout round, do you think there's been some discussion about New Zealand bowling in the dressing room that you have to do something special for that? And my second part of the question is, what do you think about the Pakistan performances, and you are looking something as a final contestant?

EOIN MORGAN: I think New Zealand as a whole are a very strong team. It's probably one of their strongest points. They work well together. They never rely solely on one or two players. It's always a very collective effort. And I haven't watched any of the Pakistan games yet so I can't comment.

Q. Picking up on what you were saying about determining the balance of the side. Is there a chance you replace Jason with one of the bowling all-arounders rather than a specialist batter, and could you explain what that decision would come down to?

EOIN MORGAN: I suppose replacing him with another bowler would mean that you have 28 genuine overs on the field and a lot of options.

If you were to go with a batter, it would mean a like-for-like replacement. When we turn up and look at the wicket, depending if it's a really good batting, predicting if it's going to be a really good batting wicket, might need the extra bit of bowling. If it's not, you might need the extra bit of batting.

 

[mastimasti]

England are the FAR better T20 side but NZ are a great tournament team. I'd say England on logic but in reality it is hard to tell.

 

[Hassaan HS]

Q. Reflection from yourself on the team's performance through the pole play and a look ahead for the semifinal for us, please.

KANE WILLIAMSON: I think every team coming into the tournament knew that it would be highly competitive. And it's certainly proved to be the case and both poles were very strong. And for us the focus was to try and grow and improve just a little bit from game to game.

And I think largely we've been able to do that reasonably well and adapt to a variety of conditions that we've been faced with and the focus was for us is the same and it was great to qualify and to be here at the moment.

But the focus is obviously the next challenge, which is a great one against England.

Q. Everyone's fit, well, and there's a night training tonight, the final one before the game; is that right?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Yes. Everybody's fit, which is great. And we have a practise and look forward to the match tomorrow.

Q. You got to the same stage in your first tournament as captain five years ago against the same opponent. How far do you think this team has come in those five years?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I suppose there's always the development focus, a great focus as an international side and over a period of time there's a number of players that or personnel that change, whether that's players or support staff.

And I think we've seen that from the last tournament to this one. And then you throw in different conditions. And everybody has those challenges. But there have been some really good steps forward and this tournament compared to the last one, I suppose a few new faces and a real mixture of that sort of youth and experience.

But, yeah, it's been a nice journey, I suppose from five years ago. And it's nice to be here and be involved in the semifinals. But the guys are really looking forward to the challenge and want to continue to focus on the cricket that we've been playing and try and improve on it.

Q. Five years ago two guys who didn't play a lot were Trent Boult and Tim Southee, two veterans on this team. How important have they been in this tournament getting the team off to good starts off with the ball?

KANE WILLIAMSON: They've been brilliant. They've been involved in the team in all formats for a long time and really experienced operators for us. And experienced in terms of playing in all different conditions. And have been executing their skills beautifully and performing their realize to the highest standards. They've been doing a fantastic job for us, really leading our attack who have been performing well and adjusting well to the different surfaces that we've been on. And a real strength on our side.

Q. Why do you think you're going to be able to get the win tomorrow night?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I suppose whenever you play a game of cricket, you're focusing on the important parts to your game that give you the best chance. And no doubt England will be doing something very similar. And both teams have been playing well throughout the tournament.

It should be a really good game of cricket. And coming into the competition, every side has match winners which makes way for a really exciting event and we've seen that throughout the last sort of three weeks.

It's great to be here in the finals. For us it's going out and playing our game, expressing ourselves and committing to those little things that give us the best chance. But England are a very strong side and have been playing really well. It should be a really good game of cricket.

Q. Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway have sort of adapted to new roles in the flight, but before that they've been doing well at domestic cricket. You may have played with Daryl. Could you talk about how the domestic structure has kept these guys international-ready, especially at this tournament?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I mean, someone like Devon has played this sort of role for us, anyway, on the New Zealand team for a while. He's a very experienced player. Although relatively new to the international game, but clearly world-class in his skill set and a fantastic head on his shoulders. He's made those adjustments really quickly and come over to the UAE, which is his first time, and played some really key roles for us.

And Daryl, who has been involved in a number of formats and has brought a brilliant attitude and I suppose coming into the tournament everybody's preparation perhaps a little bit disjointed and Daryl's given himself an opportunity to be at the top of the order with his ability to hit the ball hard and straight and also play spin.

And he's come into the side and basically grabbed every opportunity in any format with both hands. And him and Guptill at the top of the order got us off to some really nice starts.

Q. You're someone who is sort of vicious hitting balls into the nets, but your elbow has limited your training into the net. How do you find that balance on the front between sort of limiting yourself in training and keeping yourself fresh for the game?

KANE WILLIAMSON: That has been a bit of a challenge for me personally. And the balance between the loading of the elbow and things like that to try and stay as fresh as possible for the game. So it's a bit of a delicate balance to get my head around.

I certainly look forward to the day that it's gone and I don't have to worry too much about it. But as it stands, it's a topic of discussion and just trying to work closely with the physio to make sure in the games you're as fresh as possible. But it's had an impact on loading therefore meaning training sort of been a little bit -- a lot less, to be fair.

Q. Wanted to ask about the opponents. Obviously a team that you know so well. Played a lot of cricket against them in recent times. At the start of England's white ball success, they really suggested they took a leaf out of New Zealand's book the way you played white ball cricket under Brendon in 2015. Since then they beat you in the semifinal of 2016, 2020 World Cup and 2019 World Cup final. Do you kind of feel like now's your time and you kind of feel like if they've copied your template, now it's time for the masters to show what it's all about?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Look, we've played each other a number of times. We've had some really good games in really good series. The evolution of the England side and particularly the white ball side's been significant over a number of years. And have got a lot of experienced T20 players on their side.

As a collective, they're playing some really good cricket. We know it's a nice challenge that we're looking forward to. And both teams try and utilize what they have to the best of their ability and try and play their best cricket. You turn up on the day and there's been no particularly in this format it's fickle in its nature and both teams will go out to look to put their best foot forward and what will be will be at the end of it. But for us it's been a real growth focus.

Although, it was like I mentioned slightly disjointed and preparation at the start. It's been sort of one game at a time and trying to adapt and make those small improvements throughout the competition as quickly as we could.

It meant that the team have been ticking over reasonably nicely and watching from afar England have been doing something very similar, playing some really good cricket. So it should be a really good contest come tomorrow.

Q. I know you know each other very well. And I think there's probably going to be six on each side that played in the 2019 final, for example. But what about the guys that maybe you don't know very well Liam Livingstone, do you know much about him and what he might bring to the party? And how are you going to prepare for that threat?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Look, they've got match winners throughout their team. And that's been a big, I suppose, movement of their white ball side. Power packed and bat deep as well.

I spent quite a bit of time with Liam at Birmingham Phoenix, played superbly well through the 100 ball competition. There are a number of threats and number of match winners. We also have a number of match winners as well.

At the end of the day it's trying to commit to what you do as a team, and we both do it a little bit differently. And that constantly changes just over time and personnel changes and all these sorts of things.

And I think both teams are just looking forward to the occasion. It's been a long time coming. This next T20 World Cup. It's been exciting to be involved in it. And obviously it's all coming to a quick end and we've got the semifinal and all going well. Hopefully another game after that.

Q. You're world Test champions. You came as near to winning the T50 World Cup and now you're two games away from the T20 World Cup. What is it that you keep getting so right as a team?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I mean, for us as a team, we're always trying to improve and commit to what is important to us as a team. And that forever changes a little bit. And I suppose over the years you look back to perhaps the last T20 World Cup. There's been a few personnel changes, and I suppose that's the same on all sides.

But for us, our thoughts, our environment is something that is important. But it doesn't promise. It's been nice to be involved in some memorable games in recent times. But the focus for the sides sort of was the bigger picture and trying to make those small adjustments and it's nice that the side have largely been tracking pretty well in that respect.

Having said that, you turn up in finals cricket and especially in T20 cricket on the day. It's match winners throughout and anything can happen. But it's exciting and the players are really looking forward to the occasion.

But largely for us it's just always trying to improve and give to the people around us.

Q. And England are without Tymal Mills, which you already knew about, and Jason Roy ruled out yesterday. Does that make them slightly more vulnerable than they would have been otherwise?

KANE WILLIAMSON: They're both big players for England. It's a real shame that they have suffered injuries in this competition. But I think one of the strengths as well of the England side is their depth that they've managed to produce over a period of time and having spent some time at the Birmingham Phoenix and being sort of a little bit involved in that 100 ball comp and you can tell that there's a huge amount of talent throughout.

They're still very much a very strong side who have been playing some really good cricket.

Q. The momentum of the New Zealand team is in for the especially large two ICC tournaments. How do you feel special to lead the side, the special group of boys from New Zealand. How do you feel as a captain to lead these kinds of guys, the players which you are leading as well?

KANE WILLIAMSON: Great group of players. And all the three formats there's a lot of buy in and a real common goal amongst the guys in the group, which you feel fortunate to be a part of. And it's also great that there's a number of other leaders in the group that offer so much and help drive the team forward.

It's a real collective effort, and that's support staff included.

Q. If Jason hadn't gotten injured, you would be able to play them with a fair degree of certainty for what team England were going to pick. But without him, they're going to be forced into a reorganisation and you're not quite sure what that's going to look like. Has his injury, obviously it's weakened England, but has it also made your approach to the semifinal, your tactical planning, more difficult? And if so, how? If not, why, I suppose?

KANE WILLIAMSON: You're right, I suppose whenever there's an injury, there's someone else comes in and you're not to know who they are until the toss. But you try and prepare and plan as best you can and then when you go out there you're sort of competing in the moment.

And that kind of all matters then. But Jason's a big player for England and has been playing really nicely and getting the team off to good starts along with Jos. But as I mentioned, the depth on the England side is one of their strengths and we'll try and plan accordingly to the best of our ability.

But largely want to focus on the sort of cricket that we want to play as a group and keep developing on that as we've been doing throughout this tournament.

Q. Coming into this T20 World Cup, sort of predicted given the conditions Asian teams will be having an upper hand. But as we see the semifinals line up, just only one Asian team is into the last four. How much do you think IPL has contributed in terms of sort of nullifying conditions factor?

KANE WILLIAMSON: The IPL and I suppose the other franchise comps, but certainly add a lot to the knowledge of the players from all countries. And also add to the experience of being able to share and I think we've seen in this tournament and we certainly saw in the second half of the IPL the variability and the surfaces which, like you mentioned, perhaps lent itself more naturally to certain sides.

But you sort of in the moment you compete in different games and the margins are fine. And we know coming into this tournament that truly any team could beat anybody and we sort of saw that throughout the competition and there are some sides that perhaps were favourites coming into it.

And we're fortunate on the day but I suppose that's tournament sport as well. And it made way for what has been and will continue to be a really action packed and exciting competition.

So it's great we feel fortunate to have got through the stages and been playing some reasonable cricket and we want to continue to.

Q. Going back over the meetings with England, particularly in the big competitions, I suppose in particular the 50-over, you were extremely magnanimous after that defeat. When you look back does it feel in some ways as the one that got away?

KANE WILLIAMSON: I mean, it was an amazing game of cricket. And obviously sort of late in the stages it was highly competitive and a few things perhaps didn't quite go our way towards the end of the game. And that's sort of the way that it was.

And naturally there were some rules and bits and pieces that fell another way and decided the result. But in terms of our commitment to what we wanted to do that was there and that's how we like to try and measure ourselves and I know the added context around finals and these sorts of things.

And everybody's got a different opinion on it, you know, to have ties and boundary counts and all these sorts of dramatic things that decide some matches or not so much anymore.

But it was an amazing game to be a part of. And certainly all the guys that when it does come up in conversation it's looked back on fondly and appreciate that experience. Although, at the time the aftermath was very difficult to understand and perhaps didn't make a lot of sense.

But that is what it is. And you sign up. You play by the rules and you move on and you look forward to the next challenges. And as a group they continue to come thick and fast and that's where we like to put our focus. And not long after that was some Test cricket focus. And now we're at a T20 World Cup, and the cricket just continues to roll on.

 

[Inswinging Yorker]

England looks the better side, but you cannot just write off New Zealand.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Probably NZ.

 

[shokz1408]

England are very strong. But something tells me NZ will find a way to win. I feel NZ will bat 2nd and chase down englands score, somewhere between 150-160.

 

[Babeikh]

Yeah sensing a Kiwi win! Just a feeling, not based on any logic other than maybe, just maybe, they are peaking at the right time.

 

[shamaan]

I think if they can restrict England to 150 then yes New Zealand will Win or if they get 170.

 

[Robert]

I wouldn’t mind a Enzed win. I sympathised with them after the WC Final. Maybe they will get the luck this time.

 

[JaDed]

Supporting kiwis but Eng are too strong.

 

[gazza619]

Still feeling hurt from action of NZ team. As such I have zero support for them at all levels.

Common England!

 

[Technics 1210]

I cannot stand Eoin Morgan. I hope he loses. He isn’t even English. Sold his Irish heritage.

 

[sweep_shot]

Loss of Jason Roy is a blow for England. If Kiwis can get Butler out quickly, they can win.

England are still favorites though.

 

[Kroll]

I cannot stand Eoin Morgan. I hope he loses. He isn’t even English. Sold his Irish heritage.

Huh? You may not like him but that's a silly reason if its that. Eng team is made up/has been made up of players of all different heritage.

 

[Usergame]

England favs but NZ have been the best bowling side at this tournament so it will be interesting vs the most powerful batting lineup of England

 

[Ozeirk]

NZ has their own score to settle in this match after what happened in the final of 2019 worldcup

 

[Firebat]

In ODIs, NZ are able to be a lot more competitive against England, as we saw. However, in T20Is, England are just too strong. The flip side of that is because it is T20Is, unpredictability and upsets are more likely. Just a couple overs or balls can turn the game.

England are clear favourites though, expect them to go through.

 

[Giannis]

England gonna win this, NZ don't look like a Championship level team.

 

[Asif321]

Newzealand will win this .

 

[Maliq_Mudasir]

England strong on paper. But NZ with their discipline can disappoint England.

 

[shah9425]

England to win likely

 

[PakLFC]

England start as favourites. If NZ bat first they have an equal chance.

 

[baggy blue]

i have a feeling kiwis will win the world cup.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Probably NZ.

Na na boo boo!

Besides the above, the other prediction I had made was India losing the first two group games.

And based on these two predictions, I AM TELLING YOU, we are NOT ready to tackle the situation if we lose the toss and are put into bat first against the Aussies in the Semi.

We are NOT ready for it - we are NOT ready for it.

We need to reinforce the batting line by brining in Haider and/or Nawaz.

 

[Major]

Na na boo boo!

Besides the above, the other prediction I had made was India losing the first two group games.

And based on these two predictions, I AM TELLING YOU, we are NOT ready to tackle the situation if we lose the toss and are put into bat first against the Aussies in the Semi.

We are NOT ready for it - we are NOT ready for it.

We need to reinforce the batting line by brining in Haider and/or Nawaz.

Wow based on a 50-50 chance you predicted the right side


You must be a genius or something