England impressed with the bat in their first ICC World T20 2016 warmup match against New Zealand, chasing down 169 quite comfortably. Eoin Morgan's men will now look for a bit more of batting and bowling practice when they play a Mumbai CA XI side at the Brabourne Stadium Monday.
The 2010 champions are seen as one of the dark horses of the World T20, capable of beating any side on their day and even going all the way into the final at Eden Gardens. Morgan has built a nice T20 side, with enough experience and youthful exuberance to be able to topple most teams.
With the ICC planning on fixing up batting pitches throughout the tournament, this World T20 might just come to who chases better and hold those nerves together, and England certainly showed their chasing capabilities in the impressive win over New Zealand, who had previously thumped Sri Lanka.
Adil Rashid, the legspinner, was the key to curtailing the New Zealand batting attack, which went from scoring at over ten runs an over in the first half of the innings to just 169/8 at the end of their 20 overs.
England then chased down the total well, with Jason Roy and Alex Hales giving the English the perfect start, putting on 77 runs for the opening wicket. Jos Buttler then did what he does best, striking a quickfire nine-ball 24 to see England home.
While the quality of the bowling or batting attack of the Mumbai CA XI will be nowhere as good as New Zealand's, England might end up playing a few quality spinners, and if they do, it will be interesting to see how they cope.
Spin is likely to win the day for teams across the board in this World T20 – be that playing them as batsmen or picking up wickets as bowlers. England have the firepower with bat and ball and they will want to use this final practice match as an opportunity to get in tune with the conditions just that little bit more before the real thing starts with the Super 10 game against the West Indies Wednesday.
Where to Follow Live
England vs Mumbai CA XI is set to begin at 3 p.m. local time (9.30 a.m. GMT, 4.30 a.m. ET). Live coverage of the match is not available, while there is no online live streaming option either.
The ICC Website's match centre, though, will provide live ball by ball updates with text commentary.
