Jos Buttler - We'll bowl first. Looks like a good surface, the bounce will be low, with the rain around, we thought it'll be a bit of an advantage to bowl first. We're up against a great team, but we're peaking nicely and we are playing the same team today. Looking forward to a great challenge against a top side. Excited to be in a semi-final, but some of us have been here before.
England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w/c), Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
England have won the toss and have opted to field
India have shown a tendency to bat first and then unleash their spinners upon the opposition. England on the other hand have always looked to field first and then chase the runs down. Guyana is usually a bat-first wicket, but it has been under the covers and could be tacky. Will India stick with their bat-first policy if they win the toss? Or will England opt for runs on the board in a knockout match? Or will rain have the final say and ruin the spectacle? . We'll get to know at the toss shortly
Pitch Report | Harsha Bhogle and Michael Atherton: (before the rain): "Humidity - 72%, wind is expected to be 12km/hr. Dimensions - 69m and 70m, straight - 79m. This pitch looks very dry, looks cracked and the cracks are quite solid and not moving around. I expect this pitch to be quite low and skiddy, particularly for the spinners.I don't think we'll see the kind of bounce or uneven bounce that we saw in Trinidad for the first semifinal in Trinidad. The average score batting first in a day game is about 167. A low skiddy pitch which tends to favour the spinners."
Nilesh: @Harshit - I assume both captains would want to take one more look at the pitch after the rains to make their decisions at the toss. Even a 1% change in pitch conditions but play a huge factor in the game.
Simon: @Harshit Having the toss just before play lets each team know the conditions exactly so they can choose what they want to do. Also, tradition is having the toss on the pitch which is a nice touch.
11:09 Local Time, 15:09 GMT, 20:39 IST: The umpires are out for a slightly early inspection. They're first looking at the playing surface and then move onto having a word with Paul Reiffel, the fourth umpire.
Harshit: During rain, the toss should take place in the umpire's room, and as soon as the inspection is done, the teams should be ready on the ground to save time
Akshat: @Shubham J there should be a window of 2 days between the last semi-final & final, so that if semi final reaches to reserve day, then teams will still get 1 day in between before playing the final!
10:45 Local Time, 14:45 GMT, 20:15 IST: Rohit has come out to have a look at the pitch. The players have started their warm-ups and the bowlers have started marking their run-ups. It looks all positive at the moment with the inspection in 15 minutes time
We'll have an inspection at 11 am (8:30 pm IST)
10:30 Local Time, 14:30 GMT, 20:00 IST: The drizzle has stopped and groundsmen are coming out, informs Vijay Tagore
Shubham J: @prithvi Agree with your Reserve day point. But what about the team reaching final, they don't get a rest day and will have to travel just after completing the semi-final and play the final the next day
Jasprit Bumrah: Expectations are high but we’re trying to focus on our game and keep the outside noise out. We want to control the controllables. Now we’re waiting for the game to happen. You need to assess the conditions, there are so many variables involved. We understand how the game goes and how the opposition plans but we’re trying to focus on our strengths. Arshdeep has set the tone for us, he;’s been swinging the ball. As a youngster he’s very clear with his options, that’s a great sign for me.
10:18 Local Time, 14:18 GMT, 19:48 IST: It's that type of a day in Guyana. The drizzle is back and so are the covers
Shrikanth: @Omesh It’s a good thing there’s no reserve day then. If there was a reserve day, the first priority would have been to finish the game on the same day and hence have a shortened game. Now that there’s no reserve day, the game can be extended for about 4 hours before we start having a shortened game.
Prithvi Pragallapati: I think the ICC should revise the rules. When it comes to the knockout stage every team deserve to win the game and progress to the final. There should be a reserve day.