It’s semi-finals time at the T20 World Cup, with a $12,000 Draftstars slate for Wednesday’s New Zealand-Pakistan clash, followed by Thursday’s India-England blockbuster.
After the group stage games, we’ve now got a pretty good read on form and roles, so we’re here to try get a bit more specific to help you pick a winning Draftstars line-up.
New Zealand v Pakistan, SCG, Wednesday November 9 7pm AEDT
Form
Glenn Phillips ($15,500 BAT) is one of the form batsmen of the T20 World Cup, going into the knockouts as one of only two players to score 150-plus runs at a 150-plus strike rate. That correlates to a DS average of 90.6, but, as a batsman-only, his scoring can volatile, going from 22, 194, 109 to 37.5. At his price, though, he’ll likely be a common pick.
Shaheen Shah Afridi ($16,900 BOW) has built into the World Cup, going wicketless in his first two games, before taking 1-19, 3-14 and 4-22 in his past three games. That’s equated to back-to-back DS centuries. He’s got a good role, bowling key overs up front where wickets often fall, plus his economy rate is down at 6.21.
“Black Caps opener Finn Allen is a bargain, given his aggressive batting style in the powerplay which is conducive to strike-rate bonus points, leading to two DS scores of 69 and 70 this season. Allen’s battle against Shaheen Shah Afridi in the powerplay will be vital.”
Shadab Khan ($21,000 BOW|BAT) is the most expensive player in this slate and offers dual threat, given his batting role. He’s the leading wicket-taker from both of these teams, with 10 scalps in five games, while he has the best economy rate of any spinners in the World Cup, at 6.22. Kane Williamson () may struggle against Shadab’s leg-spin, so look out for that match-up.
On the flipside, Babar Azam ($18,600 BAT) has had a disastrous run all tournament with 39 runs off 63 balls in five knocks, and despite Pakistan team mentor Matthew Hayden saying a big score is around the corner, it’d be brave to select him at that price.
Injuries
Both sides are expected to go into Wednesday’s semi-final unchanged from their final group game line-ups. NZ all-rounder Michael Bracewell ($12,000 BOW|BAT) will subsequently miss out, despite the off-spinner being the leading wicket-taker in the recent Triangular Series against Pakistan and Bangladesh, getting Babar out twice in three games.
Pakistan seem set to go with four quicks again, plus the spinning all-rounders Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz ($14,100 BOW|BAT), who was elevated to first drop last game to possibly offer a left-right batting combination.
Roles
Mitch Santner ($15,200 BOW|BAT) isn’t far behind Shadab for effectiveness this World Cup, with eight wickets in four games and an economy rate of 6.43. Santner along with Ish Sodhi ($11,000 BOW) have been excellent in the middle overs and that looms as a crucial battle, especially against Shadab who has a great batting record against Sodhi.
Black Caps opener Finn Allen ($8,800 BAT) is a bargain, given his aggressive batting style in the powerplay leading to strike-rate bonus points, leading to two DS scores of 69 and 70 this season. Allen’s battle against Afridi in the powerplay will be vital.
India v England, Adelaide Oval, Thursday November 10 7pm AEDT
Form
Alongside Phillips, India’s number four Suryakumar Yadav ($20,800 BAT) is the other batsmen to score 150-plus runs with a 150-plus strike rate at this World Cup. He’s arguably been the player of the tournament so far, with 225 runs at a strike rate of 193, peeling off three half-centuries in five knocks.
Only Virat Kohli ($18,300 BAT) tallied runs during the group stage, scoring 246 runs at a 139 strike rate, also posting three half-centuries. His class is obvious. SKY and Kohli have got all the attention but opener KL Rahul ($15,900 BAT) has scored back-to-back 50s with the bat, so consider him.
Left-armer Arshdeep Singh ($13,900 BOW) has been exceptional for India with the ball, taking 10 wickets in five games at 14.10.
“Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli have got all the attention but opener KL Rahul has quietly scored back-to-back 50s with the bat, so consider him.”
Sam Curran ($18,200 BOW|BAT) has been England’s form player, regularly taking wickets with his left-arm medium pace, particularly in the death overs. Curran has claimed 10 scalps in four games, with an exceptional economy rate of 6.4.
The runs haven’t exactly flowed for England but Alex Hales ($15,100 BAT) and Jos Buttler ($18,000 BAT) have both re-discovered some form in their past two games. In those games against Sri Lanka and New Zealand respectively, Hales scored 52 from 40 and 47 from 30 and Buttler made 28 from 23 and 73 off 47.
Injuries
Dawid Malan ($11,100 BAT) is set to miss out for England after suffering a groin injury in their final group game in the field, although he did later bat, but low in the order and visibly impaired. Phil Salt ($9,500 BAT) looms as his replacement, which may cause a reshuffle of the batting order, which has been largely fluid depending on the situation. Mark Wood ($15,900 BOW) has also not trained for the past two days due to muscle stiffness, opening the door for Chris Jordan ($10,600 BOW) to play.
India skipper Rohit Sharma was struck on the forearm in the nets during the week, leading to him walking out for treatment. He did return to batting and seems likely to play. Rishabh Pant ($10,900 BAT) played India’s final group game (where they cruised to victory over Zimbabwe to seal top spot), but Rohit explained at the coin toss that was to get him involved, having previously not played all tournament. By that logic, Pant will drop out for Dinesh Karthik ($8,800 BAT), having only scored 3.
Roles
Arshdeep Singh’s ($13,900 BOW) role has been critical to India’s strength with the ball, utilising his ability to swing the ball in the powerplay, but bowl clutch in the death overs. Arshdeep has taken five wickets in the powerplay at 6.25 runs per over, with three poles in the death overs at 9.4 runs per over.
Given England’s opening batsmen, Hales and Buttler, have been their best batsmen, Arshdeep’s powerplay role will be critical to breaking them up.
Adil Rashid ($10,600 BOW) has been uber economical but only taken one wicket all tournament, yet you need to consider him. Rashid’s right-arm leg-breaks take the spin away from the right-handers (most of India’s top order), which may see someone like left-hander Axar Patel ($12,500 BOW|BAT) elevated to negate him.
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