Dawid Malan may not play in England’s T20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday in Adelaide due to a groyne injury he sustained while fielding against Australia at the SCG.
Malan pulled up while chasing a ball to the boundary in the fifteenth over and hobbled off. He was prepared to bat when England faltered in the final stages of their pursuit, but he kept slipping down the order and was ultimately unnecessary. England has one extra day than the teams that will play at the SCG on Wednesday since they have four days before their semi-final, which is expected to be against India. It is improbable at this point that Malan will be able to recuperate in time.
Adil Rashid said, “He was definitely a little hurt coming off the ground. We don’t truly know what is occurring yet, but we hope he will be okay.
The backup hitter in the lineup is Phil Salt, who has not yet participated in the competition since Alex Hales is favored as Jos Buttler’s opening partner. Luke Wood, Richard Gleeson, and Liam Dawson are England’s three traveling reserves; they do not provide comparable batting cover. Salt has batted in several spots despite opening in his most recent T20I innings.
Who will be a replacement option?
Although England’s ODI players who will participate in the series against Australia that follows the World Cup are set to arrive throughout the week, it will be a tight turnaround to call up someone from outside the group if Malan is forced to withdraw from the competition. Sam Billings, Jason Roy, and James Vince are on that team.
Reece Topley, who hurt his ankle tripping on a boundary marker before the warm-up game against Pakistan in Brisbane, was replaced by Tymal Mills when England earlier had to make one change to their lineup. So far in the competition, they have used the same starting XI.
Malan had been playing well prior to the World Cup, but his contributions have been little, with his finest performance coming in the loss to Ireland with a best of 35 off 37 balls.
Responsibility for Ben Stokes
The importance of Ben Stokes may increase if England is forced to alter their batting order for the semifinal. Although the needed rate was rarely more than a run per delivery, he essentially replaced Malan at No. 3 in the chase against Sri Lanka and delivered possibly his finest T20I innings for England, leading them home in a nail-biting finale.
England will have to adjust to Adelaide’s dimensions, which are longer straights and shorter squares of the wicket, in the semi-final due to it being England’s first game at this tournament in Adelaide. Aside from an upset on Sunday, India faced Bangladesh in the group stage, their likely opponents.
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