It will be a re-match of the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal where the defending champions England gave a royal thrashing to India. England would be hoping the mental scars of that night in Adelaide will still be lingering in the minds of Indian players, seven of whom featured in that Adelaide game and are likely to take field in Providence on Thursday (June 27).
India have been far more dominant of the two sides in the ongoing World Cup with most bases covered. Here’s a deep dive into the key tactics and matchups that could determine the course of the second semi-final in Providence…
What does Providence serve up?
Providence is the biggest venue in terms of playing area in the Caribbean in this World Cup with square boundaries from the center pitch measuring 70+ metres while the hit down the ground is well over 80 metres. Providence played host to Group C matches and four of the five games here featured either PNG or Uganda – two of the weakest batting lineups in the competition – which has swayed the numbers in this ground heavily towards the bowlers. The only day game played here was very early in the tournament between co-hosts West Indies and PNG that saw West Indies taking a paltry 137-chase until the penultimate over.
It was a typical Providence wicket that day, on the slower side, that saw finger spinners extracting big turn, some balls turning well over 5.5 degrees, while it also offered some lateral movement for the seamers when the ball was hard and new. Traditionally, spinners tend to bowl a huge chunk of overs in Providence, and it has been no different this time around with them bowling 49.7% of the overs – the highest share at any venue in T20 World Cup 2024. The match will be played on pitch #3 that was used for PNG-Uganda game. That match witnessed 155 runs getting scored for the loss of 17 wickets in 37.3 overs with balls keeping low a prominent feature.
England last played an International in Providence way back in the WT20 2010 and only Chris Jordan has any previous experience playing at this venue (two CPL games in 2019). India have played here thrice previously, last in 2023, with a 2-1 win-loss record. With regards to batting first or chasing, Providence has seen divergent trends in T20Is and CPL: the five day games in CPL here since 2022 were all won by the sides batting first while all four Internationals saw the chasing side coming out on top. Setting targets has been an Achillies heel for India in the recent ICC events with all of their defeats in the World Cup (50-over & 20-over) in the post Covid era coming when they batted first.
However, in this World Cup they have set totals well above par at all the venues they played in and defended those comfortably. On the other hand, both of England’s defeats in this World Cup came in day games and in run chases, often a result of the lack of adaptability of their batters on slower wickets.
Pace vs spin in Providence this WC
| Type | Overs | Wkts | Avg | ER | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pace | 90.3 | 40 | 14.43 | 6.38 | 13.6 |
| Spin | 89.2 | 32 | 15.63 | 5.6 | 16.7 |
Jasprit Bumrah will be key for India going up against Jos Buttler ©Getty
Buttler vs Bumrah
England have been the best batting side in the Powerplay this World Cup having lost just five wickets in this phase across seven innings. They average 63 and score at 8.75 per in the first six, partly helped by the fact they played all their matches in better batting conditions that were on play this tournament. The opening pair of Jos Buttler and Phil Salt have kind of carried England’s batting in this World Cup cycle and sit on top of the run charts for their team in this tournament as well.
India will turn to Jasprit Bumrah given his strong head to head record against Buttler having dismissed the England captain four times in T20s for only 71 runs off 82 balls. Buttler has historically struggled against the incoming deliveries against seamers and three of Bumrah’s four dismissals of Buttler have been to that particular delivery, albeit all have come at the back end of the innings. Buttler has been extremely conservative against his bugbear in the Powerplay scoring just 43 runs off the 57 balls he faced from Bumrah in this phase.
Buttler has been England’s best batter against spin in the recent times, averaging 50 and striking at 172 in T20Is since 2023, and they would want him to bat through to the middle overs when India’s spinners operate. It is a day game, and the pitch could get baked under sun and get tougher to bat as the game progresses. So how much England will want to trade off from a quick start to preserve wickets and insure the middle overs against spin is a tough question for their management to ponder upon.
The cat and mouse game in middle overs
England’s top seven boasts of five right handers should they stick to an unchanged XI and India have two left arm orthodox spinners and a left arm wrist spinner in their ranks. This right handedness has been a bane for England with the likes of Adam Zampa (2/28) and Keshav Maharaj (2/25) inflicting damage on them in the middle overs in their last two defeats. England have promoted Moeen Ali up the order and his duel with Kuldeep Yadav should be an interesting one. Moeen has faced 21 balls from Kuldeep in T20s hitting 49 runs (SR 233), also getting out twice in the process. In the three games Kuldeep played in this World Cup, he has bowled a touch flatter to make use of the skid on offer from the wicket rather than tossing it up to beat batters in the air.
Another tactic India could deploy to counter Moeen would be to make Hardik Pandya bowl hard lengths at him and force him to hit into the wind, which generally blows from east to west in Providence. Moeen has already got out twice in this World Cup taking on the wind and getting out caught deep in the leg side.
The likes of Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, and Sam Curran have struggled against spin in the recent past and India could reserve an over of two of spin to bowl at them in the early death overs to exploit the weakness.
Suryakumar Yadav has an exceptional record against England ©Getty
Powerplay struggles for both sides
England were one of the worst bowling side in the Powerplay in this World Cup cycle and the fortunes haven’t turned around in this tournament, going wicketless in the first six overs in four of the seven games. India too have had batting struggles in this phase with their opening pair not outlasting the Powerplay even once in six matches. Virat Kohli has been woefully out of form in the tournament and India will be hoping his 100% record of scoring half-centuries in T20 World Cup knockouts remains intact. Kohli has an excellent head-to-head against Jofra Archer (85 runs off 64 balls without getting dismissed). Meanwhile, England will bank on their premier pacer to bring down the in-form Rohit Sharma, who has got out to Archer thrice in 20 balls in T20 cricket.
Also, do expect England to turn to spin early on in the Powerplay. In the 2022 semifinal Adil Rashid was introduced early – he has often bowled with the newer ball against India in bilaterals – partly to avoid the matchup against Rishabh Pant. And this time India has another southpaw alongside Pant in their top five in Shivam Dube. Rashid has been in exceptional form and each of his nine wickets in the tournament have been right handers, five of which have come via googlies, and he has kept both Rohit (SR 122.45) and Kohli (SR 105.88) relatively quiet in their exchanges in T20s.
Moeen Ali’s off spin is another option up in Buttler’s sleeve, given how Mohammad Nabi and Mahedi Hasan bowled tightly in Powerplay to India’s openers in the Super 8 game. Moeen has got the better of Rohit and Kohli twice each in T20s, in 13 and 18 balls respectively.
Spin hitters vs spinners
The large square boundaries in Providence could mean India wanting to keep a left-right pair out in the middle always to target one boundary. Pant and Suryakumar Yadav have both been very positive in the middle overs as a result of which India are the fastest scoring team in middle overs scoring at 9.70 (Super 8 average 7.75), with a 21% boundary ratio. Pant struggled against the leg spinners bowling wider lines during IPL 2024 and Rashid could try to bowl wrong’uns outside of Pant’s hitting arch to lure him into playing a false shot. Moeen too has dismissed Pant twice in 40 balls giving away just 53 runs.
The other big wicket that England would be looking to buy cheaply would be that of Suryakumar, given his exceptional record against them (Avg 45.67, SR 191.61). Against the three English spinners combined, Suryakumar has hit 137 runs from just 60 balls, with a strike rate in excess of 200+ against each of the three (Livingstone being the third spinner), though Rashid has got to see the back of the batter twice in three exchanges against him, including the 2022 semis. Archer is the only English bowler in their squad to concede at under 180 strike rate to Suryakumar (10+ balls bowled) but using an over of him in the middle phase would be sub-optimal considering their other resources at the death.
Suryakumar head to head vs England bowlers in T20s
| Bowler | Balls | Runs | Dis | Avg | SR | 4s/6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan | 33 | 61 | 2 | 30.50 | 184.85 | 9/1 |
| Curran | 31 | 67 | 3 | 22.33 | 216.13 | 6/5 |
| Moeen | 23 | 49 | 1 | 49.00 | 213.04 | 5/3 |
| Archer | 23 | 28 | 1 | 28.00 | 121.74 | 2/2 |
| Livingstone | 20 | 49 | 0 | – | 245.00 | 6/3 |
| Rashid | 17 | 39 | 2 | 19.50 | 229.41 | 3/3 |
| Topley | 14 | 27 | 0 | – | 192.86 | 4/1 |
| Wood | 7 | 6 | 0 | – | 85.71 | 1/0 |
Hardik Pandya, who hit 63 off 33 balls in Adelaide that 2022 semifinal, has magnificent numbers against both Chris Jordan (118 runs off 58 balls, two dismissals) and Sam Curran (55 runs off 23 balls, one dismissal) and England will want Archer to bowl more at him (51 runs off 46 balls, three dismissals) at the death. How Buttler allocates Archer’s overs would be key in how much India rack up on board.
