The eight best teams in the world have been whittled down to four. For the better part of the last two weeks cricket fans have been treated to non-stop ODI action. English weather proved to be the eventual undoing of Australia. World number one South Africa choked… again. And no international tournament would be complete without the customary Bangladesh victory over a more fancied opposition to throw a spanner in the works – New Zealand were at the receiving end this time round. We’ll be focusing on some of the bowlers and big-hitters that could be the difference-makers as we look ahead the semi-finals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
England will take on old foes Pakistan in a repeat of the 1992 World Cup Final, in the first semi-final to be played on Wednesday June 14th in Wales. The following day Bangladesh face defending Champions India at Edgbaston in a semi-final line-up that will see the hosts slog it out against the sub-continental trio. ‘First Ball’ for both games will be at 10:30am UK time.
England vs. Pakistan – Semi Final 1 – Wednesday 14th June
Pakistan have won just three of their previous 15 One Day Internationals against England dating as far back as 2010. Interestingly though, the last of those victories came in the final game of the series between the two sides in 2016 which England won 4-1 and while it proved nothing more than consolation back then, it coincidentally came at Sophia Gardens which so happens to be the venue for Wednesday’s showdown. Hasan Ali (4-60) with the ball and Sarfraz Ahmed (90) with his bat stole the show on their way to helping Pakistan win by 4 wickets. They will be relying on these men to do the business once more in Cardiff. Ali has seven scalps to his name thus far. Only Liam Plunkett – ENG (8) and Josh Hazlewood – AUS (9) have more. Pakistan’s leading wicket taker’s best figures of 3/24 came against pre-tournament favourites – The Proteas. Sarfraz too has hit form at just the right with his 61* not-out against Sri Lanka helping book their place in the last four.
England meanwhile have arguably the best all-round attack in the tournament. Liam Plunkett (who has best figures of 4-55) and Adil Rashid (4-41) have 14 wickets between them. Fellow paceman Mark Wood has 5 to his name. Ben Stokes hit a remarkable unbeaten 102* not-out to knock out their great rivals Australia while Joe Root followed up his superb century (133* not-out) in the opening game against Bangladesh with a half century (64) against New Zealand as The Three Lions ensured that they finished top of their group with maximum points. Eoin Morgan leads the way in number of sixes hit, with seven, on his way to a batting average of 87.50 across 3 innings.
Bangladesh vs. India – Semi Final 2 – Thursday 15th June
"This performance has to be the pinnacle of our cricket history. When this tournament was first held in Bangladesh back in 1998, we didn't even feature in it. But now, we are in the semi-finals and have come a long way. This team does have the potential to go the distance. But I don't want to put any pressure on this side and just hope they keep making us proud as they have done so far." These were the words echoed by former captain and chief selector Habibul Bashar who has seen the meteoric rise of the Tigers in the last couple of years.
Thursday’s semi-final will see two of the three leading run scorers in this year’s edition go head-to-head in search of glory. 2013 “Golden Bat” winner Shikhar Dhawan of India leads the way once again with 271 runs in 3 innings at an astonishing average of 90.33 which included a magnificent 125 against Sri Lanka. His opposite number, Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal who scored 128 against England has 223 runs in his 3 innings at an average of 74.33.
These two sub-continental neighbours first clashed in the late eighties and it took until the ‘lucky-for-some’ 13th attempt before Bangladesh eventually registered their first victory on Boxing Day in 2004. Fast-forward 13 years and four wins later, they are a side reborn. The last time the sides faced in 2015, Bangladesh came away with their first-ever series victory against India following their heroics at the World Cup where they managed to upset the odds and qualify for the quarter-finals, beating and knocking England out along the way.