T20 World Cup, New Zealand v Pakistan and India v England: Road to semi-finals | Cricket News

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ADELAIDE: New Zealand will play Pakistan in Sydney on Wednesday and India will play England in Adelaide on Thursday in the semi-finals at the 20-20 World Cup tournament.
AFP Sport looks at the teams and their journeys to the last four:
The Black Caps got the tournament off to a roaring start with an 89-run thrashing of defending champions and hosts Australia, setting the tone for their campaign so far.
A washout against Afghanistan did not stop their momentum. They thrashed Sri Lanka with Glenn Phillips smashing the second century of this World Cup with his 64-ball 104.
New Zealand faltered in their chase of 180 against England but regrouped to overcome Ireland as skipper Kane Williamson scored a blistering 61.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (AFP photo)
Last year’s beaten finalists topped the toughest of the two Super 12 groups with net run rates of pre-tournament favorites Australia and England to underline how dangerous they are.
The 2009 champions got off to a heartbreaking start to their campaign when they lost a last-ball thriller against arch-rivals India and then suffered a shock defeat against Zimbabwe.
They looked dead and buried, and the win over the Netherlands was hardly impressive as they lost four wickets in their modest chase of 92.
But Pakistan produced a dominant performance to hammer South Africa and revive their semi-final run, and the Dutch did them a favor by stunning South Africa.
Babar Azam’s side won a do-or-death clash against Bangladesh to enter the last four, with pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi returning career-best figures of 4-22.

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Pakistan captain Babar Azam (AFP photo)
However, Azam’s form remains a concern with the opener managing just 39 runs in five matches.
Jos Buttler’s side hammered Afghanistan after bowling out the opposition for 112 in their opening game in Perth to justify their favorites mark in the tournament.
But a shock five-run loss via DLS method against Ireland and a washout against Australia put them on a tough wicket.
The Three Lions came back to beat the Kiwis and star all-rounder Ben Stokes with an unbeaten 42 led them to a thrilling four-wicket win over Sri Lanka to propel them into the semi-finals.

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England captain Jos Buttler (AFP photo)
Buttler and Alex Hales hit half-centuries in their win over New Zealand and pace bowlers Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood played key roles.
India set the tournament on fire at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground as more than 90,000 fans witnessed Virat Kohli’s masterclass to overhaul Pakistan’s 159 on the last ball.

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India captain Rohit Sharma (AFP photo)
Kohli excelled with three half-centuries to become the highest run-scorer in the tournament’s history and India lost only once, against South Africa, en route to the half-century as table leaders.
T20 sensation Suryakumar Yadav was also among the runs and with a tournament strike rate of 193.96 will be India’s key weapon in their bid for a first world title since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and looks ominous.



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