In the ongoing ICC World T20 2016, England will come face to face against New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Both the teams are eyeing a spot in the final at Eden Gardens on 3 April.
The Kiwis have been the only unbeaten team of the tournament so far and have played brilliantly in all four group matches. They started the tournament with a shocking 47-run win over hosts and tournament favorites India.
The Blackcaps never looked out of control in any of their matches and the team management has been spot on while assessing the conditions in India. New Zealand have a very balanced side with the right combination of youth and experience.
The New Zealand spinners have been phenomenal in the tournament. Mitchell Santner has picked up nine wickets while Ish Sodhi has picked up eight in four matches. The spinners have also been very economical for the side.
Most of New Zealand’s batting line-up is yet fire but opener Martin Guptill has shown his calibre with the 80 run knock from just 48 balls against Pakistan. The rest of the batsmen need to find their form quickly if they want to lay their hands on the World Cup.
For England, it has been a very inconsistent tournament so far as they were humiliated by the West Indies in the first match where they suffered a 6 wicket loss. They then chased down South Africa’s mammoth total of 229 in the next match of the tournament.
The Three Lions played extremely well to win two consecutive matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka to qualify for the semi-finals. They need to keep up the good work to secure a spot in the all-important final on Sunday.
As Delhi is all geared up for the 1st semi-final match between the England and New Zealand, it will be interesting to see whether New Zealand can secure back-to-back World Cup final spots.
England vs New Zealand 1st Semi Final, T20 2016
Match Date: 30 March 2016, Wednesday
Match Time: 19.30 IST, 14.00 GMT
Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Feroz Shah Kotla Delhi, Weather Conditions
It is a hot and sunny day in Delhi and it is expected that things will remain clear during the duration of the match. Unless there is a drastic change in weather in the evening, we can expect a full game tonight.
It is extremely hot with the maximum temperature likely to be around 35 degrees Celsius but as the sun sets it becomes a lot cooler in these parts of the country.
Pitch Report
England have the advantage of playing two of their group matches in this venue. The pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla has offered very good assistance to the spinners in the last game that was played and it could be a similar story today as well.
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