England hope in-form batsman Joe Root and “home" advantage can make the difference against undefeated New Zealand in the first World Twenty20 semi-final today, reports AFP from New Delhi. Eoin Morgan's team will be playing their third match in a row in New Delhi, but for the nomadic Black Caps it will be their fifth different venue in five tournament matches. “We have become quite settled in Delhi,” Morgan said at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“We have got fantastic support, a fantastic following and actually we have grown used to the pitch a lot more than probably the first game that we were here.”
Despite having to adapt to so many different surfaces, New Zealand's formidable spin attack has so far thrived in Indian conditions. The Kiwis have won the toss, batted first and used their spin bowlers to great effect to defend totals in all four of their group matches.
But Root has also shown his class on different pitches in the tournament, enhancing his reputation as one of the game's classiest acts. “Root is a class player and he is one of the best around in all three formats of the game at the moment," allrounder Ben Stokes said of his 25-year-old team-mate.
Only India's Virat Kohli of all the players to reach the semi-finals has scored more runs than Root's 168, which included a match-winning 83 against South Africa.  His knock against the Proteas fired England to a successful record chase of 230 and got their bid for a second World T20 title back on track after an opening-match defeat to the West Indies.
 The 2010 champions then squeaked past minnows Afghanistan and defending champions Sri Lanka to finish second in Group One on six points behind the West Indies.
England were reduced to 85 for 7 against Afghanistan before eventually winning by 15 runs and then Angelo Mathews' valiant 73 almost saw England come unstuck in a nervous 10-run triumph over Sri Lanka.
Morgan said he expected another “tough game of cricket” but that the earlier matches had shown his team would not buckle under pressure. “I think it shows the amount of character that we have within the group,” he said.
Teams
England (from): Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey.
New Zealand (from): Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Grant Elliott, Colin Munro, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.