T20 World Cup | Advantage New Zealand as Afghanistan struggle against Kiwi pacers

T20 World Cup | AFG vs NZ: Mujeeb Ur Rahman is back for the big game in relief to Indian fans

The whole of Afghanistan and India will be delighted with the return of Mujeeb Ur Rahman for the key clash against New Zealand in UAE. Mujeeb missed the last game against India due to injury and his absence could have made things a lot easier for the Blackcaps to knock both Afghanistan and India out of the tournament. Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi won the toss and they went back to the idea of batting first after winning the coin battle. The Afghans will be looking forward to put runs on the board and then will look to unleash their spin bowling attack on New Zealand batting group, which is not known for batting ability against spin. Afghanistan have employed a high-risk high reward strategy with the bat and have backed their batsmen to go against the bowling. They will be relying on the top three batsmen Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad and Rahmanullah Gurbaj to provide them with a rapid start. On the other hand, New Zealand are fielding an unchanged playing XI from the last game. They have dropped wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert to accommodate an extra bowler and the move is paying off well with Devon Conway donning the gloves behind the stumps.

West Indies, Sri Lanka to go through qualifiers to play in Super 12 of T20 World Cup 2022

The defending T20 World Cup champions West Indies will join another World Cup winner Sri Lanka in the qualifying round of the next edition of the tournament scheduled for next year. Sri Lanka had to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the tournament this time as well while West Indies got knocked out of the tournament after winning just one out of five games they played in this edition. The automatic qualifiers will be decided after the conclusion of the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup. Apart from the winners and the runners up, there will be top six teams as per the ICC T20 Rankings who will qualify for the Super 12 stage of the tournament from the outset. The International Cricket Council has mandated the cutoff date as November 15 to finalise the top six teams on the rankings and it’s most likely that eight teams will be the hosts Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. England and Australia are already through to the semi-finals from group 1 of the ongoing tournament while Pakistan have qualified from group 2. There is huge uncertainty surrounding the four teams for the semi-finals and it could be any side among Afghanistan, New Zealand and India to join Pakistan as semi-finalists from the group.

Eoin Morgan refuses to assume, but Jason Roy's World Cup may well be over after calf injury

England skipper Eoin Morgan has confirmed the nature of Jason Roy’s injury that he picked up in the team’s last Super 12 game against South Africa. Roy was running for a comfortable single when he picked up the injury and hobbled back off the ground taking help from the team physio and his teammates Tom Curran. Morgan confirmed it was calf injury but ruled out making any assumptions about the extent of it and his possible return to full fitness. He said that Roy will be sent to scans before making any assessment and while England will be hoping to get him back for the big games ahead, he won’t be rushed back and risked with the injury. "It's his calf. It obviously didn't look great. And we'll wait until tomorrow to see what his movement is like. Probably send him for a scan and then go from there. Apart from that, can't tell you much." "It's difficult to assume. Obviously, we're all hopeful that he comes through in some manner or there's some remedy to get him through one, if not two games. But we need to do what's best for Jason ultimately and then the team," Morgan added. Roy was very emotional while physio was trying to get him up on his feet and he was seen in tears while sitting in the dugout. He could well be ruled out of the remainder of the tournament and a sheer disappointment was written all over his face. Morgan hailed Roy as “unbelievably important” part of England white-ball sides that have gone on to become ODI World Cup champions two years back. He said that Roy has been phenomenal with the bat and sets the tone for how all England batsmen should bat at the top of the order although he has different set of partners at the top of the order. "He's unbelievably important," Morgan said. “He's a guy that epitomises everything that we are about in the changing room and the way that we play. You see how commanding he is at the top of the order, not only in T20 cricket but 50-over cricket as well. Obviously two different partners in the two formats. But yeah, he's as close as we get to surmising how the changing room should play," he further added. England suffered their first defeat of the tournament against South Africa but their dominant performances in the first part of the tournament made sure they were well within the reach of qualifying for semi-finals. They will now wait to see who among India, Afghanistan and New Zealand will be their next opponent in the semi-final.

Mark Boucher rues misreading pitch against Australia, insists South Africa are heading on right path

South Africa won as many as four out of the five games they played in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup but were still knocked out of the race to the semi-finals by England and Australia. Their coach Mark Boucher highlighted more positives out of the tournament than ruing losing out the opportunity to play the semi-finals. He said that the Proteas have been improving with each game and the world cup stage showcased their development as a side. The Proteas lost just one game and that one came against Australia, who became the second side after England to go through, and Boucher said that their batting unit overestimated the pitch in Abu Dhabi that day and lost the plot in pursuit of extra 20 runs. Boucher said that they were not sure of what should have been a good total and instead of going for 160 runs, they should have settled themselves with just 140 runs on the board. Boucher was more optimistic and happy about the Proteas becoming a better side in pressure situations which have not been the forte of South African sides of the past. He said that the side is heading in the right direction and should end the drought for a major trophy very soon. "The first game [against Australia] was tight," Boucher said. "We just didn't bat well enough. It was tough, we lost the toss, we batted first and we weren't 100% sure what a good total was because that was the first game. We looked at getting 160 but we probably needed 130 or 140 to be competitive so we could have maybe done better there." "Every game we played was under pressure. That's one thing we haven't done well in the past - played big games, pressurised games," he said. "It's a young side, we are still developing. We are heading in the right direction. We need a bit of luck and a bit of good fortune to go our way. Hopefully we can put something in the trophy cabinet soon." South Africa cricket has attracted a lot of headlines for all the wrong reasons in the recent past but Boucher insisted that the Proteas are playing together as a unit and their performances will find space in conversation sooner as they head back home to play a busy summer. "This team is in a very good space," he added. "They are very strong and together and hopefully that is reflected in our performances and hopefully people can come and see that for themselves when we are back home."