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It will effectively be a winner-take-all showdown between the defending champions India And West Indies with a venue at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Sunday T20 World Cup Semi-finals at stake.
South Africa have already booked their place in the last four from the Super 8 group, leaving these two great cricketing nations – who made light work of the initial group stage – to battle it out for the remaining spots.
Co-hosts India kept their title defense alive with a 72-run win over Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya scoring a half-century and picking up player of the match.
West Indies’ winning run in the competition ended with a nine-wicket defeat by South Africa.
Ahead of the clash on Sunday, India batsman Tilak Verma said: “We want to play fearless cricket, the brand of cricket that we played against Zimbabwe and we have played since last year.
“That’s the intention we want to carry into the next game as well. And going into the tournament, we’ll take that same intensity (forward).”
India have won just two-thirds of the 30 men’s T20 internationals between the sides, with the West Indies victorious in 10.
Interestingly, West Indies have won three out of four T20 World Cup meetings, while India have registered just one win in 2014.
The forecast looks promising, however, if the game is washed out or abandoned due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances, both teams will be tied on points.
If that were the case, qualification for the last four would be determined by Net Run Rate (NRR) – a scenario that would heavily favor West Indies, who currently have a strong NRR of +1.791 compared to India’s -0.100.
India vs West Indies Team News
India could be without batsman Rinku Singh after the death of his father during the tournament.
The middle-order batsman rejoined India ahead of the win against Zimbabwe, but was not included in the playing XI in Chennai.
Shivam Dubey looks set to continue at the left-arm spot, but Kuldeep Yadav could come in to add another spin option.
For West Indies, Brandon King is a major concern after suffering an injury during the match against South Africa.
The opening batter was injured diving for a catch and did not feature for the rest of the game.
If West Indies prefer a more seam-heavy attack, Shamar Joseph is an option for Gudakesh big.
India vs West Indies Teams Prediction
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dubey, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Akshar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty
West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope(wk/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfan Rutherford, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Moti, Shamar Joseph
Where to watch India vs West Indies
India vs West Indies starts at 13.30 GMT on Sunday. T20 World Cup is being shown live in UK Sky SportsWith streaming on the Sky Go app.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a one-day membership, £28 for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
A Sky Sports membership includes all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.
For coverage elsewhere in the world, click here For details of your local rights holder.
India vs West Indies Prediction
Given what is at stake, it will likely be a tight, but no less exciting encounter, with defending champions India having enough to keep their title defense going.
