🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: S8 - Match 49: USA vs England @ 8:00 PM IST🏏 - Page 3

Good morning and welcome to Crunch Time in Group 2. It's England versus USA in the first of the final round of matches, and there's everything to play for with the semi-finals beckoning. The USA need a lot to go right to reach the last four, but they can set off in the right direction by landing a 1950 World Cup-style upset over England, the defending champions.

For England, by contrast, the stakes are rather simpler. Win and win well, in the manner that is frankly expected of them, and it ought to be enough to get through, regardless of what happens between West Indies and South Africa later tonight. Lose, and they'll be needing serious favours. S Rajesh, our statsguru incarnate, has the details.

Let us hope the rain won't interrupt the match. 

Sid Monga is our man in Bridgetown for this one, and he reports on a promising scene: "Good morning. There's evidence of overnight rain but it's bright and sunny," he says. "The forecast has improved, and even though I can't guarantee no interruptions, I can guarantee a completed game on behalf of Barbados. Same pitch as the West Indies vs USA game."

That pitch, incidentally, looked pretty good for batting once West Indies got hold of it. It was a stickier prospect for the USA batters.

Thanks for the tag and thread, Raji!❤️

Quite sunny at the moment but the weather forecast doesn't look that promising as the day progresses, so you can probably expect a rain-curtailed game. A win for England is most likely to guarantee them a semis spot, so let's see what we have in store. England have an explosive batting unit and a fiery pace bowling unit. USA have a big challenge ahead of them. Can they put up a fight, or will they succumb to yet another defeat? All our questions will be answered soon. Stay around for the toss and teams..

Chris Jordan is marking out his run-up, says Monga, so at least one change for England is in prospect. Mark Wood might seem the obvious man to sit out, on a ground where his raw pace wasn't much of an asset in the group stage.

Mustafa Moudi: "While there were no T20 World Cups taking place in 2008 and 2020, West Indies won the only 2 T20 World Cups that occurred in the Leap Years - 2012 and 2016. If US wins this match, West Indies would have a very high chance to making it to the Top 4 !!" But if England win, it's really all on Windies to beat South Africa too... despite being unbeaten at this stage, SA are very vulnerable to an NRR ejection if they slip up later.

We are about 12 minutes away from the toss. What's in prospect today? England, remember, don't have especially fond memories of the Barbados leg of this trip - with that Scotland washout and Australia loss causing them all sorts of group-stage angst. But, how quickly things change. Now, after a shock in St Vincent last night, most of the angst centres on the Aussies, who need to beat the favourites India to be sure of a semi-final berth.

Let’s go Team USA 🇺🇸 

Pitch and weather: There's forecast for scattered showers. 64m and 62m square boundaries, 74m down the ground. The pitch looks dry and it's grass-less. There are a few rough patches, but nothing alarming for the batters. A good wicket to bat on.

Richard : "Am I right by saying an English win that takes their NRR above SA and they are through? " Pretty much, so long as it's a margin of ten or more runs. Anything less, and things get dicey...