England bowlers look to stifle India firepower in semi-final

England’s bowlers have helped cover for their batting teammates’ patchy Twenty20 World Cup and will now face their biggest test against the firepower of India in Thursday’s semi-final.The challenge may be even greater for Jos Buttler’s team, with express paceman Mark Wood joining number three batsman Dawid Malan as an injury doubt for the clash at Adelaide Oval.Barring a solid win over fellow semi-finalists New Zealand, England’s trip to the last four has been a rocky one with a shock loss to Ireland, a washout against Australia and unimpressive wins over Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.Only opener Alex Hales is ranked in the top 10 of the runs list among players who competed exclusively in the Super 12’s.However, the bowling of Sam Curran and Wood, with support from Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, has carried England through.They may have their hands full against India’s heavy hitters, though, with a rejuvenated Virat Kohli and the marauding Suryakumar Yadav in ominous form.The battle at the death is likely to be important, if not decisive, in the teams’ first meeting in the tournament’s knockout rounds given England’s bowlers and India’s batters have been standouts in the final overs.It will be England’s first match of the tournament at Adelaide Oval but India have already played at the ground, cruising to victory over Bangladesh.Kohli may be jumping out of his skin to take strike in Adelaide, where he has scored five hundreds and three fifties across 14 innings in all formats.England have bitter memories from their last World Cup match at the ground, where Bangladesh knocked them out of the 50-overs tournament in 2015. That proved a turning point, with England reaching the semi-finals or better at every World Cup since.“There’s some moments or memories that will not always be good ones, unfortunately,” Buttler, who played in the 2015 defeat along with several current team mates, said yesterday.“To be now in a semi-final and going into tournaments that we should perform well is a great place to be as a team.”Express paceman Wood withdrew from training on Tuesday with the team saying he had “body stiffness”, while Malan had a groin strain in the Super 12 win over Sri Lanka. Buttler said the decision to include the duo lay with medical staff ahead of the match at Adelaide Oval.“We trust those two guys as well and we’ll give them as long as possible (to prove their fitness),” Buttler told reporters at Adelaide Oval yesterday.“As always we have 15 guys preparing to play.”The unused Phil Salt is the only batting cover in England’s squad and could slot in for number three batsman Malan, though selectors might opt for an extra bowler.“I think he has a fantastic mindset for the T20 format,” Buttler said of hard-hitting wicketkeeper Salt, who knows the venue well as a member of Big Bash League side Adelaide Strikers. “He certainly doesn’t fear anyone.“Certainly, I wouldn’t expect to see anything else from him if he gets the chance to play.”