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T20 World Cup | ENG vs SA: Proteas vie to end Chokesrs tag as they face English challenge for semis spot

The South African team is on the verge of qualifying for their fourth semi-final in the T20 World Cups. But between them and that elusive moment which might take them to their first-ever final too, which has been the aim of this Temba Bavuma-led team, which has slipped up only once in this tournament so far, is the table-toppers England. 

To get to final South Africa would not only have to circumvent England but also go through what is now commonly known as the battle of the net run rate against Australia. Among all this, the only good thing is that Australia play the West Indies fort in the afternoon affair on the very same day and hence the Proteas would know exactly what they have to do to get through. 

What's at stake?

On a very genuine note, for South Africa, everything is at stake. From fighting the battle against racism on the field, among the team (Quinton de Kock case) and back home through the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) trials going on under newly restructured Cricket South Africa, the only thing that has held the cricket fans of the rainbow nation together is the fact that their team has fought valiantly and still vying for a place in the semi-finals of the biggest event of the shortest format of the game. 

Thus, South Africa could get inspiration from the fact that this current squad is the binding force between the sport and the fans and can play against England the table toppers with a form and aggression that is never seen before. The one thing that they would pray for, which is also not in their hands is that if Australia wins, it should not win big. 

For England, it is yet another opportunity to stamp authority and show that they are the team to beat in this tournament and can do nothing wrong. In all the games, someone or the other has done brilliantly well for England and they have managed to get through, even in their toughest clash, which was against Sri Lanka. So they would look to go on the same way and tey and end enter the semi-finals on the back of a superb win. 

What needs to change?

For South Africa, there's hardly anything that they would like to change apart from Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen getting their form back. Both these have been crucial players coming into this World Cup, but haven’t really fired according to their potential. In what is going to be the game of their career so far, if the two could really up the ante, then there would be nothing more like it. 

For England, the team would be missing Tymal Millas and thus it would be a great opportunity to test Mark Wood before the semi-finals. They would like Wood to perform well so that they are not in any sort of trouble and are not going into the semis with an unsettled bowling lineup. 

England vs South Africa: Match Details

Match Number - 39

Date and Time: November 06, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm IST

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch at Sharjah would be shiny in terms of looks like it has been for quite a while now, but it would act as a facade as the wicket would be low and slow as usual and anything above the range of 150 would be hard to chase on that wicket. 

Weather Forecast

The temperature at the stadium will fall from 29-degree Celsius at 06:00 pm to 26-degree Celsius by 10:00 pm and similarly, the humidity will increase from 57% to 68%. A light breeze is expected and there are very limited chances of precipitation as well, which is a very rare phenomenon in Sharjah. 

But since there would definitely be some dew, any team winning the toss would look to field first even though chasing has been a troublesome task on this wicket. 

Team News

England

As far as England are concerned, the only change in the playing XI will be a forced one because of Mills’ unfortunate injury. 

Probable XI

Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

South Africa

South Africa would look t go with the same XI and utilise the overs of Markram and Pretorious carefully. 

Probable XI

Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

CE XI Fantasy team

Wicketkeepers Jos Buttler, 

Batters Temba Bavuma, David Miller, Eoin Morgan

All-rounders Aiden Markram, Dwaine Pretorius, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali

Bowlers Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Adil Rashid

Vice-Captain Aiden Markram, 

Captain Jos Buttler 

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T20 World Cup | IND vs SCO: 'Dominant' India ease past Scotland but semi-final spot still in jeopardy

The permutations and combinations might still be in play but India unleashed an all-round display of cricket against Scotland on Friday in Dubai. The Men in Blue just took 6.3 overs to chase down a target of 86 runs. The day started off well for India as well as for the birthday boy Virat Kohli who won the toss and elected to field first. The Indian bowlers responded well to the captain’s decision and never let the Scotland batsmen take an upper hand in the match. Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up captain Coetzer for just one run in the third over while Munsey who had started to cut loose was undone for a 19-ball 24 by Mohammed Shami after he was caught by Hardik Pandya. The wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals and Scotland were left tottering at 63/6 to eventually bundled out for 85. Bumrah, Shami and Ravindra Jadeja rattled the opponents. Shami returned with figures of 3/15 in three overs while Jadeja also scalped a three-for at the cost of 15 runs in 4 overs. Bumrah on the other side, had a couple of wickets to his name for 10 runs in 3.4 overs. Later, India openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma unveiled an onslaught against the Scotland bowlers and put up a partnership of 70 runs in just five overs before Rohit departed for 30 off 16. Rahul went on to complete a half-century in just 18 deliveries but he was eventually sent back in the hut by Mark Watt for a 19-ball 50 but captain Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav took the team over the line to win it for India by 8 wickets in just 6.3 overs. India have now moved on to the third spot on the basis of a better NRR than Afghanistan. India captain Virat Kohli hailed his side’s “dominating” performance. “A dominating performance, something that we were striving to do again. Now it will be interesting to see what happens on 7th (November). Don't want to say a lot about today's performance, we know what we can do. Also tells you how important the toss can be at this venue. We wanted to get them under 110-120 max, that was the mindset we went in with. The bowlers were excellent, and then KL and Rohit did really well,” he said in the post-match presentation. India will now play Namibia on Monday in Dubai while Scotland will play against Pakistan on Sunday in Sharjah.

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T20 World Cup | Australia eager for semi-final spot, West Indies seek farewell for finest generation

The buildup The T20 World Cup has thrown up a lot of anti-climax in this edition and it’s because of those unexpected results that when Australia and West Indies will take on each other on possibly the final day that matters for Group 1 of the tournament, it’s only the Australians, who are still the race to advance to the next stage. At the start of the T20 World Cup, there was widespread consensus that the quad of England, West Indies, India and Pakistan were the firm favourites to qualify for the semi-finals. 26 games deeper into the tournament, the tables have been turned, and how? West Indies have been feeble and have allowed the other two sides such as South Africa and Australia to knock on the qualifying door. It’s quite fitting that the two opponents who started the Super 12 round of the battle on October 23 are the two sides to fight a desperate battle for one final spot from the group. England are through to the semi-finals and while South Africa have to go past England challenge to become the frontrunner in the race, the Australians have to give the defending champions a resounding exit from the tournament to seal their place in the final four. They have not been a consistent side in bilateral series over the last many years, but have found firepower in old horses and new edge in the experienced bowling department. Their seam bowlers are bowling hard lengths that make life tough for batsmen while the swing bowler is finding appreciable swing in the air along with the leg spinner Adam Zampa fiding enough rip off the surface to keep Australia going in the middle phase. Their form has not been consistent in the tournament and have suffered hammering by their arch-rivals England, but they can be forgiven for not losing the plot completely and coming back with a bang after each setback. On the other side of the fence, West Indies have been found it extremely tough to stay relevant in the tournament. They started off their defence of the title with the same old tactic of trying to hit many sixes off the park but soon adapted to trying to score enough runs to give bowlers chance. However, none of those worked so far and they are on their way back home before making it to the semi-finals and their exit will mark an unceremonious end of an era of West Indies when they rued the format and show across the world. There can not be any argument on what West Indies have been for the development and flourishing of the T20 format across the format and it shows in their two-time championship. But, as the format has suggested so many times, it asks teams to adapt on time to time basis and it’s that point where Windies have found wanting and exposed at the world stage. Match details Australia vs West Indies, Match no.: 38, Super 12 Group 1 Date & Time: November 06, 02:00 PM LOCAL, 03:30 IST Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Pitch details South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada had bowled with fire and extracted pace and bounce out of the surface at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in the last day game at the venue against Bangladesh. Australia have a hit-the-deck bowler in Josh Hazlewood and in-form Mitchell Starc to unleash on an underconfident and tentative Windies batting lineup. Windies have only Oshane Thomas in their lineup to play fire with fire in the pace bowling department but unlikely they will go that route against the Australians. The pitch should offer plenty of carry for the pacers and Australians will be confident of their chances against the Windies. Team News Australia The success of Adam Zampa has given Australia an unprecedented edge in the bowling department and they are looking like a bowling attack that covers all the base. They finally did not heed attention to reputation and brought Mitchell Marsh to number three in place of Steve Smith. The former captain is unlikely to get his position back unless Australia suffer an early wicket and having Marsh early on against the new ball give them the opportunity to attack from the word go. They dropped Ashton Agar from the team and banked on the trio of Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell to share four overs between them and the move is likely to continue in the final Super 12 game as well. Probable XI David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood West Indies Chris Gayle has had a terrible tournament with the bat and won’t find too much support if the Windies axe him from the playing XI except on emotional grounds as the game could well be his final game in Windies colours. While the experienced pros such as Dwayne Bravo, Gayle, and Kieron Pollard have been off their mark with the bat, the young duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran, whom the current skipper Pollard has projected as the future of West Indies cricket have not boosted their cases either. Windies have nothing to lose in this game and they are most likely to play with tier signature approach and if they come good, Australia might be chasing the ball for longer than they would like to. Probable XI Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Kieron Pollard (C), Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul CE Fantasy XI Nicholas Pooran, David Warner, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Glenn Maxwell, Akeal Hosein, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa Captain: Aaron Finch Vice-captain: Glenn Maxwell

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SMAT 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad continues form, Assam cause early upset

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