It is the last day of Super Eights Group 2 in the T20 World Cup on Sunday and we get underway in the afternoon when England look to take their title defence into the semi-final when they go up against the co-hosts USA in Barbados.
England know that a win here by a fairly decent margin to get their net run rate above South Africa will see them into the semi-final regardless of what happens in the later game. USA will exit the competition at the end of this match.
England
We have been here before with England in this tournament. They played their last game in the first group phase having to win it and win it well and hope another result went their way. The stars aligned on that occasion but it isn’t as tough this time around. We are looking at a winning margin of somewhere in the region of a dozen runs or with a couple of overs to spare to ensure England go into the last four but winning the game is the overall priority.
If they don’t win the game they won’t be going through so they need to make sure they get that job done. England don’t have the greatest record against Associate sides so they could do with making a fast start regardless of whether they bat first or bowl first just to ease any nerves and also to put the pressure on the less experienced Americans. England’s batting is starting to warm up at the right time and if their bowlers can do likewise they should be semi-finalists.
USA
Whatever happens in this match this has been a brilliant campaign for USA. They have accredited themselves very well as co-hosts and have been prepared to play in a style which is pleasing and which could see them improve to being if not a force in the 20 over game, certainly a side who will go into matches knowing that on their day they can beat anyone. They’ll get another chance to show that in a couple of years as by reaching this stage they have automatically qualified for the next running of this tournament.
USA have generally looked to chase in this tournament and when they have done that they have found it easier to pace their innings, whether they have got home or not. You get the feeling that when they are asked to bat first they are not quite quick enough to judge what a good score is. I guess having a bowling attack which is still finding its feet at this level as a collective doesn’t help with that decision. All in all though this has been a great campaign and they have one last chance to show what they can do.
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Team News
England are unlikely to make a change to their side despite falling short against South Africa last time out but if they do think they need more batting depth then Chris Jordan could come in for Mark Wood to provide that.
It appears that Monank Patel isn’t going to be back for this match so the USA skipper is done for the tournament. Whether USA want to change things to give someone who hasn’t had much cricket an outing remains to be seen.
Betting
I see this as a typical England match in that the runs are likely to flow because their bowling is very much the weak part of their side. It will be interesting to see who gets to chase here because both have shown a tendency for doing it throughout the competition but if it is England who bat first then you would imagine at some point someone is going to get hold of the bowling and it is going to go around the park but this is a USA side who are now able to play with freedom and really go at England.
We saw just how dangerous they can be with the bat in the opening game when they chased down 195 against Canada with the minimum of fuss while they also got to the 159 posted by Pakistan as well. In the first game of this stage USA hit the South Africa attack for 176 so the sloppy showing with the bat last time out what actually a surprise. I expect them to rectify that and contribute to the scoring which should see more than 306.5 runs scored on a wicket that is playing absolutely fine.
Tips
Back Over 306.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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