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England 15-16 South Africa: Springboks fightback settles World Cup semi-final
England fell agonisingly short of a supreme upset and a fifth Rugby World Cup final as South Africa came on strong to snatch victory in Paris.
England were canny and committed in the first half, raining down kicks into the South Africa backfield, forcing a steady supply of penalties. Owen Farrell converted four to send his side into the break with a 12-6 lead.
The Springboks chopped and changed their line-up after the break, but a Farrell drop-goal edged England further clear and to the brink of a seismic shock. However, an RG Snyman try 10 minutes from time cut the underdogs’ lead to 15-13 before the Boks’ scrum power earned Handre Pollard the match-winning penalty in the 77th minute.
It was a brutal ending for an England team who had led from the third minute until three minutes from time.
White shirts slumped to the sodden Stade de France turf, while elsewhere the tension and physicality of the contest spilled over with groups of players confronting each other.
It was characteristic of an England side who never took a step back and took the fight to their fancied opposition. The performance was also vindication for coach Steve Borthwick, who turned Leicester from relegation candidates to Premiership champions in 18 months and has produced another spectacular salvage job to guide England within a whisker of a final.
After beating hosts France by a similarly small margin on the same stage last weekend, South Africa will return to take on New Zealand in the showpiece match with both sides chasing a record fourth title.
Line-ups
England: Steward; May, Marchant, Tuilagi, Daly; Farrell (capt), Mitchell; Marler, George, Cole, Itoje, Martin, Lawes, Curry, Earl.
Replacements: Dan, Genge, Sinckler, Chessum, Vunipola, Care, Ford, Lawrence.
South Africa: Willemse; Arendse, Kriel, De Allende, Kolbe; Libbok, Reinach; Kitshoff, Mbonambi, Malherbe, Etzebeth, Mostert, Kolisi (capt), Du Toit, Vermeulen.
Replacements: Fourie, Nche, Koch, Snyman, Smith, De Klerk, Pollard, Le Roux.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistants: Mathieu Raynal (France) and Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
(BBC)
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India look to go into Super Eight stage with all-win record
No matter how good you are or how likely you are to win or how forgiving the schedule is, a World Cup brings its own unique challenges and stakes, especially at home, especially given the current geopolitics of the region this home is in. India have been comfortable victors in all three matches so far but haven’t yet been able to unleash the style of play that they want to.
The last of these three matches was one in which India had all to lose. Nothing rode on the match against Pakistan in terms of progression or whom they face in the Super Eights, yet they couldn’t afford to lose. Such overwhelming favourites losing to underdogs in the current geopolitical climate would have been massive outside the purview of this tournament. A win, however, merely reaffirmed their status as the favourites.
Now India will look to go back to try to score big. They haven’t yet scored more than 209 despite batting first in all three games. Ahmedabad at night is the perfect scenario for them. Four of the last five first innings in Ahmedabad in the night have been over 210.
Netherlandswill want to prove they are not mere props, a vehicle to see how much India can push the limits of what scores are absurd. They were within one catch of beating Pakistan, they beat Namibia, and will want to show they are no pushovers.
India will want to bat first should they win the toss, but it will be interesting to see whether Netherlands want to avoid an impossible target or do what teams do to give themselves the best chance to win in the night in Ahmedabad.
He is the best T20 batter in the world, but Abhishek Sharma’s initiation to the World Cup has been an inauspicious one: golden duck, stomach illness, four-ball duck. And it doesn’t say anything about Abhishek’s skill or temperament. It is just one of those things. But Abhishek will want to get it out of the way so it doesn’t weigh on him in the Super Eights.
Netherlands will look to borrow from Abhishek’s first two dismissals in the World Cup. As it is, they like to open the bowling with offspinner Aryan Dutt. . After Salman Agha tied Abhishek down for three balls and got him out off the fourth, this belief will be reaffirmed. Do mind, though, that Ahmedabad is no Colombo. You can trust yourself to clear the infield on this batting paradise.
Outside of Harshit Rana’s last-minute injury and withdrawal from the tournament, all other availability issues that India faced are now sorted. The only change they will likely make is go back to Arshdeep Singh ahead of Kuldeep Yadav on the quicker Ahmedabad surface.
India (probable): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.
Netherlands have been alternating between Timm van der Gugten and Kyle Klein in their first three matches. Paul van Meekeren has played only one of their three matches, making way for left-arm quick Fred Klaasen. It will eventually come down to two of three quicks.
Netherlands (probable): Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (capt & wk), Zach Lion-Cachet, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Roelof van der Merwe, two out of Kyle Klein, Fred Klaassen and Paul van Meekeren.
[Cricinfo]
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