South Africa elevate Keshav Maharaj as captain, rest big players from Netherlands ODI series

T20 World Cup | Dary Mitchell heaps praise on Neesham, says semi-final was never out of grasp

When Sam Billings caught Glenn Phillips off the bowling of Liam Livingstone leaving the Blackcaps needing as many as 60 runs from the last 29 balls, the things seemed precarious and the match could have gone away from them in matter of few balls. However, for the opener Daryl Mitchell, it never went out of New Zealand’s grasp and according to him the smaller sized boundaries on one side of the ground meant that there were favorable match ups on offer for them. By the end of Livingstone’s over, the Kiwis needed 57 runs from 24 balls and it was now or never moment for the Kane Williamson-led side and right on cue, entered James Neesham to put England under pressure with herculean effort with the bat. He plundered Chris Jordan, who was coming into the contest as one of the death bowlers in the tournament, for 24 runs and the Blackcaps could smell something special on offer. They were helped immensely by the presence of Mitchell, who had spent time in the middle and found his top gear and timing just at the right time. After that big over, both he and Neesham and went after the leg spinner Adil Rashid with brute power and secured 14 runs off it to make it look easy for the Blackcaps. Mitchell was the Man of the Match and in a most fitting way finished the game in the penultimate over by smashing Chris Woakes for two sixes and one boundary while needing 20 runs off the last 12 balls. "No, it probably sounds weird, but it never felt like it was out of our grasp. I think especially with that smaller side boundary on one side, we knew that there were going to be match-ups there that might suit us towards the end, and look, we were obviously very lucky at times; a couple sailed over the ropes that could have been a metre shorter and we're all out,” Mitchell said in the post-match press conference. "But at the same time, we always knew that as long as we kept just within the certain numbers that we felt comfortable with that we were always a chance. I thought the way that Neesh (Neesham) came out and really dominated that one over really set the momentum heading into those last few, so yeah, take my cap off to him. He played a hell of a knock." Before coming to his best with the best in the latter half of the innings, Mitchell was going through a tough time against the new ball bowling of Chris Woakes. The pitch was sticky and odd balls were moving in the air in the first innings as well. Woakes had already taken two big wickets of Martin Guptill and skipper Kane Williamson and Mitchell opted to see him through while he was bowling with his favorite choice of weapon—the new ball. "Yeah, I think the new ball is very challenging on that surface," Mitchell said. "It was pretty two-paced to start off with, and as you could probably see, it was tough to get going at times. "I thought the way that all the batters that came in sort of hung in there and helped build a platform to try and allow us to launch at the end, and we were very lucky that a few just snuck over the rope and got us going... it's a bit of a blur, but I can imagine it was a hell of a game to watch, and I think the way England played was very special as well. It's obviously pretty cool to get the job done, but I know it's a game of inches, that's for sure." New Zealand roared past England by five wickets with six balls to spare and will wait for the result of the second semi-final between Australia and Pakistan to see who they will face off against in the big final.

T20 World Cup | Semi-final: When in trouble, call Neesham, Jimmy Neesham

Heard about James Bond? Let us tell you about another James, James Neesham. A New Zealand player who had a bat in his hand and not a gun but surely a licence to unleash an assault on the England bowlers in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening. Neesham had come out to bat when the Kiwis were in a spot of bother at 107/4 in 15.1 overs chasing 167 with a struggling Daryl Mitchell at the other end. While New Zealand had wickets in hand, they needed someone to push the paddle from the other side and Neesham did exactly the same. The left-handed batsman didn’t really take much time to get his eye in and began with the job. He was at 1 off 1 when the death over specialist Chris Jordan bowled in a decent manner in the match, was up against him. It took Neesham just six more deliveries to move to 20 off 7 and smack a couple of maximums and a four during the course. But the onslaught didn’t end there as England captain Eoin Morgan, in search of a wicket, handed the ball to Adil Rashid. The leggie did what his captain wanted him to but VERY, VERY LATE. Neesham had already scored a maximum in this 18th over and New Zealand had already got that boost of acceleration with his energy rubbing off on Daryl Mitchell. The right hander at the other end had hit Rashid for another six making his intentions clear that he wasn’t going to hold back. The two batters had collected 14 runs in total before Neesham was caught by Morgan at extra cover for 27 off 11, a knock that included three sixes and a four. The equation had now become 20 off 12 with five wickets in hands down from 57 off 24 deliveries. Mitchell later finished off the match in the penultimate over to help his side make a place for themselves in the final smashing two sixes and a four. He remained unbeaten at 72 off 47 and hit four sixes and as many fours during the course. Daryl Mitchell-Devon Conway’s stand While James Neesham had taken the limelight for this chase, the foundation was laid by Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway. New Zealand had a dismal start after they lost Martin Guptill who had been in some good knick and captain Kane Williamson early in the innings and were left tottering at 13/2 in the third over. But it was Mitchell and Conway who steadied the ship with a 82-run stand for the third wicket before the latter departed for 46 off 38 after he was stumped by Jos Buttler off Liam Livingstone. More than the partnership, it was about the way the two batsmen stitched it. They didn’t really show much hurry initially and took time to get themselves in the groove before going after the bowlers. While the English bowlers peppered Mitchell with short stuff, the batsman negotiated them well. The knock from him became more crucial as New Zealand haven’t really been getting stable starts from the opening pair and it was generally Daryl who was getting out early barring the game against India. Conway on the other side, lived up to the expectations and stood strong at the other end. Eoin Morgan’s captaincy England skipper Eoin Morgan certainly missed the plot as he was in a desperate search of a wicket in the 18th over. Morgan handed the ball to Adil Rashid against someone like James Neesham who was in a different form on Wednesday. A leg spinner against a left-handed batsman who was in his zone of thrashing every possible delivery out of the park was a disastrous call. And this decision totally put New Zealand in the driver’s seat after the Kiwis collected 20 runs from this over. Another trick that the English skipper missed was not introducing Moeen Ali into the attack. An off-spinner might have done a better job and if not much, he could have at least kept a check on the scoring-rate which just kept on jumping with every passing ball. Also, Moeen had been riding on confidence after the kind of innings that he played and was among runs for the side which would have eventually helped him if he had come into the attack. Moeen Ali-David Malan provide resistance After being put into bat, England were off to a decent start but a couple of wickets pushed them on the backfoot for a while before Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan provided the resistance to the side. The two batters chipped in with a partnership of 63 runs for their wicket. While Malan began to cut loose a bit after he had settled in the middle, Moeen on the other side, took the back seat. But as soon as Malan departed for a 30-ball 41 in the 16th over, Moeen broke the shackles and started to score runs in a more brisk and aggressive manner. The left-handed batsman eventually remained not out for 51 off 17 which included two sixes and three fours. New Zealand’s brilliance in the field The Blackcaps have been in some terrific form as far as their fielding is concerned and they unveiled yet another instance of this during the clash against England. Captain Kane Williamson grabbed a stunner at mid off to send Jonny Bairstow packing while the team saved around 10 runs if not more in total in the innings. Well, as they say, runs saved are runs scored. And this probably happened. But all said and done, New Zealand are the first finalists for this year’s T20 World Cup as they defeated England by 5 wickets. The 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup seems to feed the spectators and fans with those “break the jinx” instances. First, Pakistan did it after they defeated India for the first time in a World Cup fixture and now it’s New Zealand. New Zealand suffered a defeat in the 50-over World Cup final in 2019 and in the semi-final of the 2016 World T20 to England. But they have now defeated the English team in the knockout match and also booked a final spot for the first time in a T20 World Cup. They will either meet Pakistan or Australia in the title clash on Sunday, 14 November.

T20 World Cup | Semi-Final | PAK vs AUS: Will the jinx breaking Pakistan smash another by beating Australia in knockouts?

It has been a tournament of many firsts for Pakistan. Beating India for the first time in a World Cup, remaining undefeated in five matches straight in an ICC tournament and topping their group to enter the semi-final. These are just to name the major ones. Coinciding with these firsts there is yet another opportunity for the men in green to achieve the unachievable. Be it the ODI World Cups of 1987, 1999 or most recently 2015, Australia have beaten Pakistan in the semi-final, final and quarterfinal respectively. For that matter in the T20 World Cup of 2010, Michael Hussey single-handedly brought down Pakistan, scoring 18 off the last over of the famous semis clash. While there is a jinx for Pakistan to break, Australia, one of the best cricketing teams, have been devoid of a T20 World Cup so far and there could be no bigger motivation than that. However, Pakistan, apart from the breaking of the jinx, have come into the World Cup with a resolve to show the big four of cricket that they mean business and having already defeated India and New Zealand, their aim is now to get equal with the likes of Australia and England. And thus, they would put in something extra to make sure that they live up to give that dream another go and qualify for the finals. So fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a belter at the ring of fire on Thursday, November 11. What's at stake? The stakes couldn’t be higher than this for both teams. In the recent past, none of the two teams have achieved anything big and thus this is an opportunity to get to the big stage and show to the world that they are here and they are alive. For Australia, getting into the final and then winning could give them the validation they require. That they are a good T20 unit, despite what the world says about them. It will also tone down the public war that the Australian media has with their coach Justin Langer and could be a good influence over the squad ahead of the Ashes series. For Pakistan, their cricket board chief Ramiz Raja’s message of ‘being the best in the world so that all teams would by default want to play you’ could and should ring in their ears throughout the tournament till they finally achieve what they have resolved to do. What needs to change? For Australia, a lot of things could change, for example, their middle-order batting could really try and get going. None among Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have really cut loose apart from the first game against South Africa when Stoinis and Matthew Wade won the game for the team in the end. Middle-order of Australia is a problem that could be well exploited if Shaheen Afridi and company could get early inroads dismissing Aaron Finch and David Warner. For Pakistan, there are two things that would be bugging them - Fakhar Zamaan and Hasan Ali are two players who haven’t really got going in any game. Imad Wasim hasn’t really fired with either ball or bat, but since his role is of containment, not many people would put fingers on him. Thus Babar Azam could really do with Hasan and Fakhar finding their form, the two players who won Pakistan their last ICC trophy, the Champions Trophy in 2017. Pakistan vs Australia: Match Details England vs New Zealand Match Number - 2nd Semi-Final Date and Time: November 11, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitch at Dubai has really been helpful to the bowlers early on. Although a fully closed structure, still it allows a great amount of swing for the bowlers very early on in the innings but ends up relatively being a good batting track afterwards. Spinners can also get purchase and if they give the ball a bit of flight, especially while bowling in the first innings. Ravi Ashwin explained in India’s last game against Namibia that the cross breeze at the Dubai stadium is a thing of a real asset for the spinners. It allows the bowler to manipulate the ball in the air, generating a good skid from the pitch. In the second innings, there would be dew and thus bowling might get very difficult in the back end of the game. Weather Forecast The temperature at the stadium will fall from 28-degree Celsius at 06:00 pm to 24-degree Celsius by 10:00 pm and similarly, the humidity will increase from 44% to 54%. There would be a light breeze blowing and it being a 06:00 pm start at local time, dew in large amounts is expected in the second innings. Thus a captain winning the toss would look to chase in all circumstances. Team News Pakistan The Pakistan lineup has been the only team in the entire tournament which has not faced any issue with injury and even if Zaman and Hasan have not been in form, they have played all games and gained confidence and who knows, might become the hero in the next two games. However, disaster has struck. It has been reported that Mohammad Rizwan and Shoiab Malik have found themselves down with flu and have missed training a day before the game. And that is very scary, given Pakistan have found a perfect combination to dominate this tournament. However in these circumstances, Pakistan might be forced to field Sarfaraz Ahmed in place of Rizwan and Haider Ali will take the place of Shoaib Malik. In that case, Fakhar Zaman will be partnering up with Babar Azam in the opening spot. Probable XI Mohammad Rizwan/Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik/Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi Australia The Australian lineup after trying and testing in many games have finally come to a settled eleven with Mitch Marsh and Smith playing alongside each other and Glenn Maxwell and Stoinis working in tandem to be the fifth bowler alongside three pacers and Adam Zampa. Probable XI David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood CE XI Fantasy team Wicketkeepers Mohammad Rizwan Batters - Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, David Warner All-rounders - Shadab Khan, Glenn Maxwell Bowlers - Shaheen Afridi, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood Vice-captain - Adam Zampa Captain - Mohammad Rizwan

T20 World Cup | Dangerous signs for Pakistan as Mohammad Rizwan, Shoaib Malik miss training

Pakistan are living under a threat of missing out on the services of two of its best players in the T20 World Cup so far with Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik missing the Pakistan team’s training session on Wednesday with mild flu. With just one day to go before their crucial semi-final with Australia in Dubai, Pakistan might now have to look for a drastic change in their first XI, something that they have not done in the 5 matches played in the Super 12 stages. Pakistan might be forced to field Sarfaraz Ahmed in place of Rizwan and Haider Ali will take the place of Shoaib Malik. In that case, Fakhar Zaman will be partnering up with Babar Azam in the opening spot.