In the first semi-final of the ICC men’s T20 World Cup, England is playing New Zealand at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday. The winner of the match will proceed directly to the final of the tournament.

Winning the toss, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson invited Eoin Morgan and his team to bat.

“We’re bowling first. It’s a good pitch but a bit of dew later. We’re going in with the same team. Busy period for us, and we’ve come through, giving in good performances. The two most experienced bowlers have bowled beautifully throughout the tournament, and after Lockie, Milne has come in and done well too. England has a lot of depth, that’s their strength, and we have the opportunity to play our own brand of cricket to make it to the final,” Williamson said at the toss.

“We would have looked to bowl first too, but hopefully the toss doesn’t decide the result of the game. Roy misses out today, obviously he’s disappointed because he’s played a big role for us in this tournament, and to miss out on a semi-final is devastating. However, Billings gets another chance. He’s been doing the hardwork and carrying the drinks for us, and it’s a big opportunity for him,” England captain Eoin Morgan said at the toss.

“Bairstow will open today, instead of Roy, since he’s done it really well in the past. We can’t take New Zealand lightly at all, they’ve been playing semi-finals and finals for a lot longer than we have, so we’ll have to play out of our skins to beat them. Looking forward to a great contest today,” the left-handed batter added.

Playing XI:

England (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan(c), Sam Billings, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway(w), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult