With each team barring Sri Lanka in ‘Super 12 Group 1’ of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 having had to face a washout, the race towards the semi-final stage for the six teams have become trickier, yet interesting.
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With a win against Afghanistan, facing an upset against Ireland, and then a no result against Australia, England have had all the three results in the tournament so far across their three initial ‘Super 12’ matches. These results have meant that a loss in their fourth match tonight, will highly likely end their World Cup campaign.
England will thus, look to bring in their ‘A’ game during the 33rd match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 against New Zealand at The Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday, with the latter presently brimming with confidence after convincing wins against Australia and Sri Lanka.
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The previous occasion these two sides met in the format was during the semi-final of the T20 World Cup last year, when the Kiwis comfortably surged through to the grand finale. Come Tuesday, New Zealand will have another go at England to knock them out of the ongoing World Cup as well.
England vs New Zealand pitch report
The England-New Zealand encounter tonight will be played on the same pitch where Ireland took on Australia yesterday.
The Gabba surface on Monday, was on the slower side as admitted by the Aussie skipper Aaron Finch post receiving the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
“It wasn’t the easiest wicket, it was a lot slower than what we expected. They changed their pace really well and bowled a lot of cutters early in the innings, it was hard to get a rhythm and we did well to get 180,” remarked Finch.
Thus the spinners might well come into play tonight, with the wrist spinners in Ish Sodhi and Adil Rashid likely to come in handy for their respective captains, with the added advantage of the long boundary sizes.
However, the dryness in the pitch makes it an overall great track to bat on, with the captain winning the Toss likely to bat first unless overcast conditions engulf the match venue.
