T20 World Cup 2024 – England to recall memories of Adelaide 2022 against ‘brilliant’ India

England became the first team to reach the semi-finals but spent another two nights in Barbados after beating the USA by 10 wickets at Kensington Oval. Their semi-final berth was confirmed on Monday when India beat Australia in St Lucia, and they arrived in Georgetown on a chartered flight on Tuesday morning. India fly on Monday night.

It’s not that India’s experience is overwhelming: a small team played two T20Is in Providence last August, with the rest appearing again in the 2019 T20I. It will come down to which team adapts better. “I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing place,” Moeen said before England’s flight. “You can expect some kind of spin and a strong wicket.”

Moeen described England’s World Cup so far as a “rollercoaster ride”. An extra hour of rain in Antigua would have knocked them out of the first round and despite progressing to a fourth consecutive T20 World Cup semi-final, they still beat one Full Member team – the West Indies – in the tournament. “Coming here was really difficult,” he said. “But it’s nice to be here, you have two games left to win the World Cup.”

Rohit Sharma was very strong, hitting 92 off 41 balls from the top of the order. “He is a world-class player – one of the best players in the world,” said Moeen. “Sometimes you hope they will come out in T20s. That’s what happens in cricket, especially T20 cricket: you’re not always guaranteed runs, no matter how well you play. But they have other players.

“They are a very good side. They have everything, so we will have to do our best to beat them. I am looking forward to that, actually: it is a big challenge, like the last time we played them in the semi-finals in Australia it will be a challenge, and we will have to plan and play really well.

The Adelaide semi-final is best remembered for Jos Buttler and Alex Hales’ 170-run partnership that led England to victory with four overs to spare, but was stopped by the bowlers. India managed just 62 for 2 in their first 10 overs after being asked to bat first, and Hardik Pandya’s late strike was not enough to see them through.

Moeen said what he remembers most about the game was “how sick England were” in the build-up. “But [also] the way we took them, and we were unbelievable with the bat. We stopped the game on that wicket with the ball. Even when they slowly moved away from us at last, it was already late. That was a great day, a great performance.”

Arshdeep Singh, who bowled two wicketless overs in the Adelaide semi-final, was reluctant to look ahead after India’s win over Australia. “It’s exciting when you come to the World Cup and in the knockout stage you have really good opponents,” he said. “But our motto here is ‘stay where your feet are’ and right now, we’re trying to enjoy the moment.”