England skipper Eoin Morgan on Tuesday said that his side isn’t strong favourites for the Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final clash against New Zealand.
England and New Zealand will be locking horns in the first semi-final of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. “It is a really good compliment for the changing room to all of the players more so to the head coach and support staff who have created an environment where all the players come in and they thrive in it. We have always thought about having great depth within our squad and as a whole, there have been some instances where we have to put out replacement teams but I think in doing so, you can have 30-40 players in domestic setup who can play international cricket but if the right environment is not there, it does not matter which eleven you pick, they would not be able to perform,” said Morgan while replying to an ANI query during a virtual pre-match press conference.
When asked whether England is favourites for the semi-final, Morgan said: “I would not say strong favourites. New Zealand has a full-strength squad. Our guys are extremely excited about the challenge of facing New Zealand. We need to play good cricket to beat them.”
“We cannot wait, it is a big achievement that we came out of our group and topping the table in the way we did, now it is all about producing the best game. We know how good and consistent New Zealand has been. They have always been extremely competitive, they are always around the semi-finals,” he added.
Opening batter Jason Roy was ruled out of the World Cup due to an injury he suffered against South Africa, but Morgan said that the mood within the camp is alright and the team is buzzing to go ahead.
NZ MOVED ON FROM 2019 WC
NZ skipper Kane Williamson on Tuesday recalled the “amazing” 2019 ODI World Cup final and said the Kiwis have “moved on” from the defeat.
England and New Zealand will lock horns on Wednesday for the first time in an ICC knockout game since the 2019 ODI World Cup final. In the final, the tournament witnessed a first-ever Super Over in which England defeated New Zealand to lift their maiden title on the basis of boundary countback rule at Lords. Williamson, while saying that the result was not in the hands of New Zealand, expressed relief that the game will not be decided by the boundary countback rule now.
“I mean it was an amazing game of cricket and obviously and in the latest stages it was highly competitive. Few things didn’t quite go our way and that’s how it was,” said Williamson in a virtual press conference.
“It was an amazing game to be a part of and the aftermath of the game was very difficult to understand. You sign up and play by rules and you move on and look forward to next challenges and our focus is on that only,” said Williamson.