England have limped through the group stages of the T20 World Cup after narrow wins against Nepal and Italy and a blowout at the hands of West Indies to qualify for the Super Eights stage of the tournament.
Harry Brook’s side are expected to be in a group with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and either USA or Pakistan, depending on the latter’s result in their final game – where the top two of each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Early results in the tournament – reason for fans to worry?
England began this edition of the T20 World Cup with a tie against minnows Nepal, with the latter the obvious underdog and after setting 184 with the bat from their 20 overs, the favourites would’ve been confident heading into their defence.
Nepalese batters Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee put together a fantastic third-wicket partnership of 82 off of 54 balls to keep their side in the game, and Lokesh Bam’s 39 not-out brought them inches away from victory before Sam Curran’s death bowling saved England’s blushes.
Heading into the West Indies game, England would’ve hoped their rust was behind them after the previous match, but the Caribbeans set a fantastic 196/6, with Sherfane Rutherford high-scoring with an unbeaten 76.
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Top-order partnerships set England up nicely to chase down a good score, but a late bowling masterclass from Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein and Shamar Joseph powered through the tail-end, with England making 35 for five wickets at the end to succumb to defeat.
England needed a win to avoid being dumped out of the group stages against Scotland, who would’ve been in the driver’s seat to claim the second spot in group C – but Tom Banton’s 63 not-out avoided a huge disappointment for the fans.
England breezed past tournament debutants Italy in the last game of their group stages, and will hope that their performance for the rest of the tournament will be much more convincing than their first four games.
England’s standout performers so far
Will Jacks has been one of the best performers in an England shirt so far at the T20 World Cup, with an unbeaten 53 in the last match against Italy which took his side over the 200 mark as they set a tough score to chase.
Curran has probably been England’s best bowler of the tournament so far, keeping his nerve at the death to stop Nepal’s chase in the opening game – he recorded his best figures in the Italy game, taking three wickets for 22 runs off his three overs.
Banton has also been a surprise success story of the World Cup, coming into the side in the T20 series against Sri Lanka prior to the tournament and has impressed with a best innings of 63 not-out against Scotland.
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England’s Super Eights group and what to expect?
England are set to begin their Super Eights run with the opener against tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka, who are top of group B after winning all three of their opening games, most notably against Australia.
England are fresh off the back of a 3-0 T20 series victory against the co-hosts, so the players should know what to expect from the difficult conditions and should expect to win if they play like they did in the warm-up series.
Brook’s side will then play one of the USA or Pakistan, with Pakistan expected to qualify with a win against Namibia, but their embarrassing defeat to rivals India might have a knock-on effect for the remainder of their tournament.
England last met Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in the final of the 2022 competition, where Jos Buttler’s side won by five wickets and the memories of that win might push England to victory.
Finally, England will play New Zealand, who hosted a white-ball series against the English ahead of the Ashes, with the T20 portion cut short due to two abandoned games.
The game is sure to be a tight contest, but the Blackcaps look like the more cohesive side and are probably better-placed to take the victory.
England can expect to play one of India or South Africa in the semi-finals, with both teams favourites to finish in the top two of their group, and this might spell the end of the line for the English.
India have had a fantastic campaign so far, winning their first three matches and will be expected to win the whole tournament due to a mix of the quality in their side and the feverish support of their home crowd.
South Africa have also won their first three games and will expect to take a clean sweep in the group stages, with their final game against the UAE to build some momentum for the rest of the World Cup.
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