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T20 World Cup Justin Langer Aware Of Pakistan Threat In Semis Praises Babar Azams Leadership

T20 World Cup | Justin Langer aware of Pakistan threat in semis; praises Babar Azam’s leadership

Australian coach Justin Langer acknowledged the fact that Pakistan, who the Aussies will most likely be facing in the semi-final are going to be a very tough opposition. He complimented the South Asian nation for the kind of balance they have developed in the side and was all praises for their leader Babar Azam.

"They've got a good all-round team like we have, and they're well-led. Their captain, Babar Azam, is a superstar of the game. They've some good pace bowlers and they have a couple of good spinners, so they're a well-balanced side like we are, so it should be a great game of cricket," Langer said in the post-match press conference after Australia’s comprehensive victory against West Indies in their last group stage clash.

Praising his players for their clinical showing in the last two games which pushed the Aussie run rate up despite the drubbing from England, Langer said, "It was brilliant again last night, I think our last few games have been outstanding cricket,"

"The boys have really stepped up. It was quite a sobering experience against England. We knew we had to do some work and the way the boys responded to that has been brilliant, so it's nice to be in the semi-final. You can't win it unless you're in the semi-final. It's nice to be sitting here, knowing we're in a semi-final on Thursday," he concluded.

Australia were in a spot of bother with a resurgent South African side breathing down their neck. However, with South Africa failing to win big in their last Super 12 game, Australia were relatively under less pressure and just had to make sure that they get the two points against West Indies, however tight it came.

Australia will now gear up to face Pakistan (in all probability) in the semi-finals, who remain the only team in the competition to have won all of their games. Pakistan play their final Super 12 game against Scotland on 7 November, Sunday.

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

Afghanistan look in a spot of bother after the end of the powerplay in their Super 12 clash against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, 7 November. The blue brigade lost three wickets, scoring just 23 runs in the first six overs. New Zealand pacers were all over the Afghan batting lineup with their short bowling ploy and didn’t let the openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad settle in. Adam Milne removed Shahzad in the third over for just 4 runs off 11 balls. In the very next over, Trent Boult removed Zazai, getting him caught at short mid-wicket. The pace trio wasn't done yet as after picking up two wickets in the first four overs, Southee came back to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz plumb in front of the wickets to push the Afghani top order out of the equation. At the time of writing this, Gulabadin Naiband Najeebullah Zadran were batting at 10 and 6 respectively with the Afghan total at 36-3 at the end of the 8th over. This is a do or die game for both teams. While New Zealand will qualify for the semi-finals with a meagre win, Afghanistan would require a big win to bolster their net run rate. However, on Afghanistan’s win ride the hopes of India, because if Afghanistan win, New Zealand will be stranded at six points and India can reach six points by beating Namibia in their last game. And with a superior run-rate, the Men in Blue have great chances of qualifying to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.Afghanistan look in a spot of bother after the end of the powerplay in their Super 12 clash against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, 7 November. The blue brigade lost three wickets, scoring just 23 runs in the first six overs. New Zealand pacers were all over the Afghan batting lineup with their short bowling ploy and didn’t let the openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad settle in. Adam Milne removed Shahzad in the third over for just 4 runs off 11 balls. In the very next over, Trent Boult removed Zazai, getting him caught at short mid-wicket. The pace trio wasn't done yet as after picking up two wickets in the first four overs, Southee came back to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz plumb in front of the wickets to push the Afghani top order out of the equation. At the time of writing this, Gulabadin Naiband Najeebullah Zadran were batting at 10 and 6 respectively with the Afghan total at 36-3 at the end of the 8th over. This is a do or die game for both teams. While New Zealand will qualify for the semi-finals with a meagre win, Afghanistan would require a big win to bolster their net run rate. However, on Afghanistan’s win ride the hopes of India, because if Afghanistan win, New Zealand will be stranded at six points and India can reach six points by beating Namibia in their last game. And with a superior run-rate, the Men in Blue have great chances of qualifying to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.

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.