The general view around Team India in this T20 World Cup is they are yet to be on their A-game. However, Suryakumar Yadav and team need to be credited for the character they have shown to turn things around following the 76-run thrashing against South Africa in their opening Super Eight clash to seal a semi-final berth with back-to-back wins.
That has given the defending champions the momentum they needed going into Thursday’s semi-final. Though beating England at the Wankhede won’t be too easy, India still have a greater chance of reaching the final, believes Temba Bavuma.
“India are certainly expected in the final. They do stand a good chance of being there (in the final). But, England will be tough to beat. It won’t be too easy (for India)… Should be a good game, though,” Bavuma, South
Africa’s Test and ODI captain, who’s here for commentary, said at the Eden on Wednesday, minutes before the first semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand got underway.
Bavuma, though, was “very disappointed” after the Proteas were blown away by nine wickets in the semi-final. In South Africa coach Shukri Conrad’s words, his wards got a “snotklap” (a powerful blow to the face, in Afrikaans) from the Black Caps.
“We chose a crappy game to have a poor night. Such is the nature of T20 cricket. We were simply outplayed by them. In other words, we got a snotklap... A real hiding,” Conrad said later at the news conference.
Alongside the loss of early wickets, the Proteas’ inability to make use of the final over of the innings also hurt them. “In the last over, Marco (Jansen) hardly got the strike, while we kept losing wickets at the other end,” Conrad rued.
India T20Is helped
Centurion Finn Allen, who will soon be back at the Eden for his stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, acknowledged that the five-match T20I series against India in January helped New Zealand adapt to the conditions here.
“It was an important series that we played here in India earlier this year leading into this World Cup. That really helped, especially the black-soil wickets where we played as they helped us to get accustomed to the conditions,” Allen said.
“Momentum is with us, and if we play our best cricket, we can beat anyone in the final. We are happy to face anyone, to be honest,” he added.