England clung on to beat Nepal by 4 runs. Photograph: AFP
MUMBAI:
England will go into their T20 World Cup semi-final towards India with no worry, mentioned all-rounder Sam Curran on Tuesday, including that their first job can be to silence a raucous dwelling crowd.
England will tackle the favourites and hosts in entrance of 35,000 fiercely partisan followers in Mumbai on Thursday, with a spot within the remaining towards South Africa or New Zealand at stake.
The noise might be deafening at occasions within the cauldron-like confines of the Wankhede Stadium.
However Curran mentioned that as a result of he and plenty of of his England teammates — corresponding to Will Jacks at Mumbai Indians — play within the Indian Premier League (IPL), they won’t be fazed.
“It is an expertise as a younger cricketer you dream of — taking part in India within the semi-final of a World Cup,” left-arm seamer Curran advised reporters.
Curran was within the worldwide wilderness a yr in the past however compelled his manner again into the England squad with eye-catching performances in T20 franchise leagues, together with the IPL.
“India are a high quality facet however we have performed a number of cricket right here. We all know learn how to play on these grounds and we all know what to anticipate,” he mentioned.
“The IPL, no query, has helped so much. Having performed within the floor many occasions, there’s not many unknowns.”
England skilled a hostile crowd on the Wankhede of their first match of the match once they beat Nepal in a final-ball thriller.
It was Curran who bowled the nerveless remaining “loss of life” over, conceding simply 5 runs when Nepal wanted 10, to stave off an embarrassing defeat.
He then repeated the feat towards Italy and has contributed with the bat from quantity six, scoring 149 runs to this point with a better of 43 not out.
“We’re not fearing something and I am positive each groups are actually excited by the problem,” Curran mentioned, including England might choose how nicely they had been taking part in by the quantity of the followers.
“If the group are silent, England are in all probability going to be doing nicely. That is our optimistic manner of it,” mentioned Curran.
It’s the third T20 World Cup in a row that England could have performed India within the semi-finals and every time the winners went on to carry the trophy.
In 2022, England crushed India by 10 wickets in Adelaide and went on to beat Pakistan within the Melbourne remaining.
Two years in the past India gained in Guyana by a equally dominant 68 runs earlier than downing South Africa in Barbados.
South Africa face New Zealand within the first semi-final on Wednesday. The ultimate will happen on Sunday in Ahmedabad.
“I suppose that is what the final 4 or 5 weeks have been constructing for,” mentioned Curran.
“And hopefully we will take another step in the direction of the ultimate.”
