England, Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand have all punched their tickets to the semi-finals (knock out stage) of the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2021 following the Super 12 stage of the tournament which concluded on Monday 8th with India defeating Namibia by 9 wickets.
Today (Wednesday 10th) from 6.00 a.m.E.S.T. in Semifinal No.1 England takes on New Zealand at Abu Dhabi, and the following day, (Thursday 11th) from 6.00 a.m.E.S.T. in Semifinal No.2 Pakistan play Australia at Dubai.
How the four top teams made it through the Super 12 stage.
In Group 1, England got their campaign off in grand style, bowling out the defending champions the West Indies for a mere 55 runs in 14.2 overs and chasing it down in just 8.2 overs with 70 balls remaining.
In the second game against Bangladesh they won by 8 wickets with 35 balls remaining, Bangladesh 124 for 9, England replied with 126 for 2. On October 30th, the English men made light work of Aaron Finch led Australia side winning by 8 wickets with 50 balls left. Scores, Australia 125, England 126 for 2.
For their two remaining matches they were made to work hard in Sharjah, with Sri Lanka pushing them close despite Buttler’s brilliant century and losing to South Africa by 10 runs on Saturday 6th.
Batting first against the Sri Lankans, England scored 163 for 4, Sri Lanka in reply 137, England won by 26 runs. In their final encounter versus South Africa, South Africa 189 for 2, England in reply 179 for 8, South Africa won by 10 runs.
Australia
The Aussies won their opening game against South Africa by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining. Scores: Australia 121 for 5, South Africa 118 for 9. Then later made light work against Sri Lanka winning by 7 wickets with 17 balls to spare. Scores: Sri Lanka 154 for 6, Australia 155 for 3.
The boys from Down Under experienced a crushing defeat against England in their third encounter as England chased down 126 with 50 balls remaining, severely impacting the net run rate situation going into the final two rounds. Scores: Australia 125, England 126 for 2.
Thankfully, from an Australian perspective, that Net Run Rate damage was short-lived as in their following game, they bowled Bangladesh out for 73 and in reply scored the required runs for the loss of 2 wickets with 82 balls left. In their final Super 12 match, it was another eight-wicket win, this time over the West Indies. Scores: West Indies 157 for 7, Australia 161 for 2 with 22 balls left.
Group 2 Pakistan and New Zealand
Pakistan
Pakistan is the only team to play undefeated and the tone for their campaign was set in their very first over of the competition against India on October 24th with left arm pacer Shaheen Afridi picking up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. Scores: India 151 for 7, Pakistan in reply 152 without loss, winning by 10 wicketswith 13 balls to spare.
Against New Zealand, they chose to bowl first and restricted the Kiwis to 134 for 8. In reply, Pakistan scored 135 for 5 with 8 balls remaining. On October 29th, the Pakistanis had their third win in a row when they defeated Afghanistan by five wickets and 6 balls remaining. Scores: Afghanistan 147 for 6, Pakistan 148 for 5.
Pakistan continued their winning ways, defeating new comers Namibia by 45 runs. Scores: Pakistan 189 for 2, Namibia in reply 144 for 5. In their final encounter, they made light work of another new comer Scotland winning by 72 runs. Scores: Pakistan 189 for 4, Scotland 117 for 6.
New Zealand
New Zealand’s T20 World Cup campaign got off to a rocky start when they were defeated by five wickets against Pakistan in their opening match. Scores: New Zealand 134 for 8, Pakistan 135 for 5 with 8 balls left. In their second game, they defeated Virat Kohli led India team by 8 wickets. Scores: India 110 for 7, New Zealand 112 for 2.
In their third and fourth Super 12 game, Scotland pushed them coming within 16 runs of chasing down a target of 172. Scores: New Zealand 172 for 5, Scotland 156 for 5 and there was also a scare against Namibia too, scores in that encounter New Zealand 163 for 5, Namibia 111 for 7.
The Kiwis made no mistake against Afghanistan to once again seal their spot in the semifinal round of an ICC event as they comfortably chased down 125. Scores: Afghanistan 124 for 8, New Zealand 125 for 2.
