England are drawing confidence from a run of tight victories ahead of their Twenty20 World Cup semi-final against India, captain Harry Brook said, adding that his team’s resilience would be a key factor on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium.
England’s route to the last four has not all been smooth sailing, with the two-time champions advancing after wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, against whom they needed 43 runs off the final 18 balls to get over the line.
“We’ve won tight games, which in World Cups prove to be very important, and we’ve got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game,” Brook told reporters on Wednesday.
“We’ve won games, which we probably shouldn’t have won, and it just feels like we’ve never really been out of any game so far, which holds you in good stead in these world competitions.”
Brook’s own form has underpinned that message. The 27-year-old struck a 50-ball hundred to lift England past Pakistan in Pallekele.
“I don’t believe that we need a perfect game to win the competition. The games that we have won have been nowhere near perfect, and we still managed to get the wins convincingly in some of them, and then tight in the other games,” Brook said.
“It’s just the unity that we’ve had to be able to get across the line, the belief that everybody’s shown throughout the games and the calmness that we’ve had when the bowlers have stood at the top of the mark.
“I do believe that India were favorites from the start of the competition, as they should be on their home soil, with home crowds and knowing the venues better than anyone else,” said Brook. “But T20 is such a fickle game, anything can happen.”
Former captain Jos Buttler’s form has been scrutinised, with the opener making only 62 runs in seven matches.
Buttler hit for an extended period in the nets on Wednesday.
“I think leaving him [Buttler] alone is probably the best thing to do. He’s been a powerhouse cricketer for many years there should be no reason to question why he’s in the team,” Brook said.
England’s top two wicket-takers in the tournament are spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson.
“I feel like England always get a bad rap about playing against spin. We’ve gone to Sri Lanka and we’ve won six games in a row against subcontinent sides, who are very good in their own backyard,” Brook said.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches. [Varun] Chakravarthy is one of the best bowlers in the world, and I’ll try my best to face him and score as many runs as I can against him.”
The winners on Thursday will advance to Sunday’s final against South Africa or New Zealand, who meet in the other semi-final on Thursday at Mumbai.
INDIA SEEK TO BEAT ‘STREET-SMART ENGLAND’
India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel warned the hosts will need a “special performance” to beat a “street-smart” England the semi-final.
Sanju Samson’s sparkling 97 not out enabled India to chase down 196 against the West Indies in a winner-takes-all clash on Sunday in Kolkata.
Morne said India would again need someone “to put their hand up” against Brook’s side to keep the nation’s dream of a home World Cup win alive.
Morkel agreed India had not put together a flawless display in the tournament yet, but said that did not matter.
“We haven’t really spoken about the perfect game,” Morne told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium after India’s final training session before Thursday’s big clash.
“It’s not about how you get to the semi-finals. It’s about the next two games, how we’re going to play there.
“I think the quality of this team has been shown that on the day somebody will put their hand up.
“Then hopefully, especially tomorrow night, we can put that special performance in.” It is the third T20 World Cup in a row that India will play England in the semi-finals.
Both previous times the winners went on to lift the trophy. In 2022, England crushed India by 10 wickets in Adelaide and beat Pakistan in the Melbourne final. Two years ago India won in Guyana by a similarly dominant 68 runs before downing South Africa in Barbados.
This time, though, India will have the backing of 35,000 fiercely partisan fans in Mumbai.
“It’s a big occasion tomorrow night here, a semi-final, a great stadium to play a great game of cricket,” said Morkel. “So hopefully the boys can rock up tomorrow and just be calm and execute those skills.”
India are leaving nothing to chance in their preparations.
Training on Tuesday night was delayed by an hour so it did not coincide with a lunar eclipse, which is considered unlucky in India.
“I was told about the lunar eclipse and the session was pushed backwards,” admitted Morkel.
“I think the most important thing to focus on was the quality the guys put in at training, which was great to see.”
India hosted the T20 World Cup in 2016 and lost in a Mumbai semi-final to eventual champions the West Indies.
India are wary of the threat posed by England, who were shaky in the group phase but powered through the Super Eights with wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand.
“They’re a team that’s street smart. Obviously there’s a lot of quality in their side,” said Morkel. “Their batting is deep, which makes them a very dangerous side. With the ball, they’ve got a lot of attacking options.
“The way they approach a T20 game, fearless, trying to take the game on, will give you opportunities.
“Tomorrow is going to be a good shoot-out between two aggressive teams.“The side that can hold their nerves and play the conditions and read some of the conditions quite well and the quickest [will win].
