ICC World Cup 2019 Semi-Final Matches Schedule

ICC World Cup 2019 Semi-Final-teams

The ICC World Cup 2019 semi finals match schedule is out and India will take on New Zealand in the first thrilling semi final slated for the 9th of July, 2019 (Tuesday) while Australia will face England in the second semi final slated for the 11th of July (Thursday) before the World Cup final on 14th July (Sunday), 2019.

The ICC World Cup 2019 semi final fixtures present an interesting case. Table toppers India will take on fourth placed New Zealand first up. India is arguably one of the strongest ICC World Cup 2019 semi final teams, having registered 15 points in their 9 games with 7 victories, one wash-out and 1 defeat. New Zealand, on the other hand, has 11 points from their 9 games with 3 losses, 5 victories and 1 wash-out. They qualified ahead of Pakistan due to their superior net run rate.

On the other hand, Australia lost to South Africa in the final league game of the ICC World Cup 2019 and this got them down to the second position with 14 points in 9 games, complete with 7 victories and 2 defeats. England is in third place with 12 points from 9 games and a tally of 6 victories and 3 losses.

Key strengths of competing teams:

India vs. New Zealand – Coming to India’s strengths, there are plenty. Rohit Sharma has scored a record 5 centuries in this World Cup and then there is the in-form skipper Virat Kohli. KL Rahul has just scored a century in the last game against Sri Lanka and will be hoping to retain his good form. In MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and either Dinesh Karthik/Kedar Jadhav, India have balanced middle order. The bowling has been top-class with Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar firing on all cylinders and they can be adequately backed by Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal or even Ravindra Jadeja whenever needed.

New Zealand, on the other hand, will be relying heavily on the swing prowess of their star paceman Trent Boult while Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson can be quite a handful. In Mitchell Santner, there is another valuable option while Kane Williamson is the batting mainstay of the lineup along with Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill.

Australia vs. England- England are riding high on the super form of their opening duo, particularly Jonny Bairstow who scored two centuries back to back and also the solid reliability of Jason Roy. In Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes and Joe Root, England have adequate firepower. Stokes will double up with the ball along with Chris Woakes who can bat well too. Jofra Archer, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood are capable fast bowlers while Adil Rashid can also turn on the heat whenever required.

Australia, on the other hand, will be relying heavily on their strong and in-form opening duo of the unstoppable David Warner and skipper Aaron Finch. Backed by Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Usman Khawaja, the Aussies can expect to score big runs on their day. The bowling unit is well sorted with the experienced Mitchell Starc guiding his compatriots. Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins make up quite a handful while the Aussies also have good bench strength. Stoinis and Maxwell also double up as handy bowlers whenever they’re needed on the pitch.

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