‘We certainly don’t want an India-Pakistan final’ — Jos Butler

England's Jos Buttler attends a practice session at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on November 8, 2022, ahead of their ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup 2022 cricket semi-final match against India. (Photo courtesy: AFP)
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Updated 09 November 2022
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‘We certainly don’t want an India-Pakistan final’ — Jos Butler

  • England look to spoil the party in Thursday’s Twenty20 World Cup semifinal against India
  • England are sweating on the availability of batsman Malan and pace spearhead Wood

ADELAIDE, Australia: England will make last-minute calls on the fitness of Dawid Malan and Mark Wood as they look to spoil the party in Thursday’s Twenty20 World Cup semifinal against India, Jos Buttler said.

The world’s two top-ranked teams will clash at the Adelaide Oval for a place in Sunday’s final at the MCG against Pakistan or New Zealand.

England are sweating on the availability of batsman Malan and pace spearhead Wood.

“We will see how they pull up. We are trying to give them as long as possible,” skipper Buttler said on Wednesday.

“Dawid was out the other day with a small niggle, Woody has had a bit of stiffness. We trust the medical team, we trust the two guys as well.”

Number three Malan injured his groin in England’s final Super 12 match against Sri Lanka and could be replaced by Phil Salt.

Buttler knows that an India side which has batsmen Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav in sparkling form will have strong backing in Adelaide, as they have done throughout the World Cup.

“We are all really excited about the match, in my opinion one of the best stadiums in the world against a brilliant Indian team which I am sure will be well supported tomorrow,” Buttler said.

“It’s going to be a great occasion and these are the times you want to be involved as a player.”

Buttler also knows that those Indian fans will be hoping for victory to set up a blockbuster final against arch-rivals Pakistan.

“We certainly don’t want an India-Pakistan final,” added the batsman-wicketkeeper, who took over the England white-ball captaincy earlier this year from Eoin Morgan.

“So trying to do what we can to make sure that it doesn’t happen.”


Lando Norris says F1 cars gone from best to ‘probably the worst’

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Lando Norris says F1 cars gone from best to ‘probably the worst’

  • Norris’ title defense comes amid sweeping changes to the cars
  • The 26-year-old British driver has endured a tough weekend at Albert Park so far

MELBOURNE: Formula 1 champion Lando Norris is struggling with his new era McLaren car and frustrated to line up only sixth in Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Norris’ title defense comes amid sweeping changes to the cars, and the 26-year-old British driver has endured a tough weekend at Albert Park so far.
F1’s new cars are complex, with unprecedented changes across the chassis and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes — one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style.
“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1, and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst,” he said after Saturday’s qualifying.
He’s not just coming to grips with his car’s complex energy management systems, but also in getting out on track — with the Briton losing significant time in Friday’s two practice sessions.
“Just getting into the rhythm of lifting everywhere to go quicker and using gears you don’t want to use and just understanding that when you lift more, you brake later but you have to brake less,” Norris said.
“That’s why laps are more valuable than ever. In the past, miss P1, not too bothered. Now, you miss five laps, not only do you as a driver have to figure things out quicker, the engine doesn’t learn what it needs to learn and then you’re just on the back foot.”