Key events
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to the biggest thing since the Ashes. After a largely wretched winter, England have somehow made their way to a World Cup semi-final. They are now David, up against Goliath: the world’s best T20 team, on their home turf. But India have looked vulnerable at times in this tournament and England have kept finding a way to win, mostly by luring the opposition into a false sense of security and then relying on Will Jacks to bail them out. Being the underdogs should suit them nicely.
It’s the third time in a row that these two sides have met in the semi-final of a T20 World Cup. England won the first with the greatest of ease before India took all too predictable revenge in the second. This one is harder to call. India bring more firepower, especially now that Sanju Samson has come to the party. They have Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s most lethal fast bowler, and spinners to spare.
England are a mess at the top of the order, where Phil Salt has mostly faltered and poor Jos Buttler has gone from a superstar to a walking wicket, a lost soul who has forgotten how to hit a four (good luck finding your form while facing Bumrah). But Harry Brook still has a few aces – the red-hot Jacks, the crafty Sam Curran, the ageless Adil Rashid and the rapid Jofra Archer, not to mention Brook’s own big-hitting.
My considered opinion is that anything can happen.