England have better spinners and can beat India in semi-final – Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan says England have a better spin attack than India and he has a “funny feeling” Harry Brook’s side will win Thursday’s T20 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai.

India came into the tournament as overwhelming favourites but were beaten by South Africa in the Super 8s phase and stuttered in the group stage.

England are yet to produce a complete performance but have progressed to the last four with five successive wins, having come through a series of tight finishes.

“They seem to have found a way of winning,” Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast.

England’s batting has failed to fire throughout the tournament. Captain Harry Brook scored a sensational century against Pakistan but there have been few other match-winning contributions.

But Vaughan pointed to their bowling – the spin of Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson and Will Jacks, plus the seam of Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Jamie Overton – as a strength.

“England have a better spin attack than India,” said Vaughan.

“[Varun] Chakravarthy has been got at. Dawson, Rashid and Will Jacks have been the best trio in the tournament in terms of spin.”

Spinner Chakravarthy is India’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament but in key matches against West Indies and South Africa he has conceded 40 and 47 runs respectively.

“England’s fielding has been absolutely exceptional,” Vaughan added.

“They look really alert. England’s running between the wickets has been exceptional.

“The small percentage things you can control themselves, England seem to be doing very well.

“I just have a funny feeling England can get the job done in Mumbai.”

England look set to again back out-of-form opener Jos Buttler, who has returned five single-figure scores in a row at this tournament.

Vaughan said Buttler is focussing too much on his technique while attempting to get out of his rut.

“You always look at your technique when you are not feeling as good as you have done,” he said.

“Jos is a hand-eye player. Just stare right in the middle of the ball and react to the deliveries.

“The shots he hasn’t been playing are the ramp shots. I think this pitch will suit that shot and to play that shot you have to stare at the ball right onto the bat.

Thursday’s meeting at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, in front of loud partisan support for the hosts, should be mouth-watering.

It is the third semi-final between the two sides in succession at the T20 World Cup, with England having won the 2022 encounter by 10 wickets in Adelaide before India were triumphant in Guyana in 2024. Both sides subsequently went on to win the title.

All-rounder Curran, who played in both previous meetings, said the 2022 win is a template for England to look to.

“If we are searching for a perfect game, I guess that’s something we can hopefully model our game on,” he told BBC Sport.

“It’s pretty obvious that the crowd’s going to be epic and what an opportunity for us to kind of come out here.