Mumbai, March 4 – England are set to play the semi-final for the sixth time in the 10 editions of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, and for the fourth consecutive time, and will face India in the knockout game here at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Both teams have won the title twice, and one of them will move closer to their dream of lifting the coveted trophy for a record third time.
England first made it to the top four in the 2010 edition of the tournament, where they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets at the Beausejour Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia. Chasing a modest target of just 129 runs, England successfully chased down the total, securing a rather one-sided victory.
They then faced Australia in the final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, and went on to beat their arch-rivals by seven wickets, chasing the 148-run target in just 17 overs to win their first T20 World Cup trophy.
England's second semi-final appearance came in the 2016 edition, hosted by India, where they beat New Zealand by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi to confirm their place in the final against the eventual champions, West Indies.
They faced New Zealand again in the next semi-final of the 2021 edition, played in the UAE, but lost by five wickets after failing to defend the 167-run target they had set.
England's next two semi-final appearances came in the 2022 and 2024 editions of the tournament, where they faced India on both occasions.
In 2022, England halted India's campaign at the penultimate stage before going on to beat Pakistan to lift the trophy. Two years later, the script was reversed. Led by Rohit Sharma, India defeated England in the 2024 semi-final and carried that momentum into the final, where they overcame South Africa in Barbados to claim the title.
Notably, in both recent editions, the winner of the India-England semi-final has gone on to become world champion, a statistical trend that adds further weight to Thursday's contest.
