T20 World Cup: England face India in semi-final; Will Jacks dismissed but Jos Buttler struggles | Cricket News

Finishing out the bat has not been a problem for England in this T20 World Cup and that is largely due to Will Jacks.

The No. 7 has won the Most Valuable Player award four times and is the team’s MVP, scoring 191 runs in seven innings with a strike rate of 176.85.

Had it not been for Jax’s unbeaten 39 off 20 balls against Nepal and his unbeaten 53 off 22 balls against Italy, England might have lost those games and gone out with a whimper.

Head coach Brendon McCullum, already depressed by the Ashes fiasco earlier in the winter, will never recover from that embarrassment.

Jacks made a huge contribution from the start, picking up 21 and 3 wickets in the win over Sri Lanka, 28 wickets in the win over Pakistan and an audacious 32 not out off 18 balls against New Zealand as England finished the Super 8s unbeaten.

As McCullum’s side prepare for Thursday’s shock semi-final against India in Mumbai (1.30pm UK, live on Sky Sports Cricket), another late show for the Jacks is timely and perhaps necessary if Jos Buttler and Phil Salt are to struggle at the top once again.

The all-rounder from Surrey has transformed into an expert finisher. Not bad for a guy who spent most of his white-ball career as a starting pitcher and ran all the way to Opening Day.

Why is Jax so effective as a finisher?

Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who worked with Jacks at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “I have to admit I didn’t think Jacks could do such a great job.

“He has been open all his life and even when he batted at number three in RCB, he felt a bit out of place initially.

“It’s a different feeling coming in when everyone is out on the field. It changes your mindset. How do you take singles? How do you get to the boundary? The first boundary is often risky.

“I’ve been amazed at how he’s adapted to the role. It’s amazing to see how he can hit singles and rotate strikes and then launch out on the back end. He’s also played on some tricky pitches, so he should only be even better on flat pitches with dew.”

“The fact that he is an offside player helped as his main balls at the death seem to be slower ball bumpers and wide yorkers.

“Wide yorkers fall in a nice arc. He can cream shots over the covers. Even when the field is set up like that, he can back himself up and hit. And when they come into him, he can launch down the leg side.”

Finishing is England’s superpower. On the other hand, the start was a real struggle.

Hussein: A Butler Made for Occasions like this

The much-vaunted opening partnership between Salt and Buttler resulted in a highest ranking of 38 this World Cup. They didn’t score against Pakistan two matches ago, but they scored only two matches against New Zealand. The English side hope to play again in Sunday’s final.

At least Salt scored a half-century in the tournament and a hard-won 62 runs against Sri Lanka. Butler’s best is 26. None of the last five times have they exceeded seven.

The best white-ball batsman in England’s history has a measly average batting average of 8.86. His future is in doubt.

But Nasser Hussain of Sky Sports would not be surprised to see a vintage Buttler playing against India in such a high-stakes match, taking inspiration from the 35-year-old’s ‘f*** it’ mantra written on his bat.

The former England captain said: “That’s the essence of Buttler. I think he’s gone one way in the last few games to give himself a chance and now he might go the other way.”

“His bat basically says, I can’t repeat it, ‘When in doubt, just try it.’ For Jos Buttler, this is that opportunity, so I think he’s going to go for it.”

Buttler hit the ground running in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against India in Adelaide, knocking out 80 off 49 balls with nine fours and three sixes, propelling his side to a 10-wicket win against a team missing Jasprit Bumrah through injury.

Bumrah played in the 2024 Caribbean semi-final when India beat England by 68 runs and while he did not dismiss Buttler, Axar Patel did not dismiss his bowl opening partner Salt midway through and finished with figures of 2-12 from 2.4 overs.

India’s Bumrah conundrum

The big topic of discussion is how India will deploy their pace spearheads in Thursday’s semi-final, with England captain Harry Brook, in particular, likely to be the key wicket after scoring an incredible 50 balls from No. 3 in the recent match against Pakistan.

Opinions are divided between Mr. Kartik and Mr. Hussain.

Kartik said, “We will introduce Bumrah later, but Brook is the bigger wicket right now so I will keep him for that.”

“I think Bumrah and (spinner) Varun Chakravarthy bowling together will be a great opponent for Brook because you need to get him down early. He can change the game down the stretch.”

“I think Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya are a good matchup for Buttler and Salt. Salt has struggled against Arshdeep in the past, but he has come through a little bit.”

Hussain countered, “I’m not going to keep Bumrah for the middle order. I’m going to attack early and get Buttler or Salt early to keep England in check.”

“India have Chakravarthy who has a good record against Brook. During England’s tour to India last year, Brook couldn’t pick him at all.”

Watch the T20 World Cup Second Match semi-final between England and India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 1pm on Thursday (1.30pm first pitch).

2026 Men’s T20 World Cup Final Tournament

Always UK and Ireland. All matches will be streamed live on Sky Sports

Semi-final

Wednesday, March 4th

Thursday, March 5th

England vs India (Mumbai, 1.30pm)

final

Sunday, March 8th

New Zealand vs TBC (Ahmedabad, 1.30pm)