T20 World Cup 2022

Both India and Pakistan had their final warm-up fixtures washed out in Brisbane earlier in the week. While India have all players available for selection, Pakistan have been given a sigh of relief with Shan Masood available after being hit on the head in Friday's practice session though Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out due to him still recovering from a knee injury.

Key to New Zealand starting their campaign with a bang were their openers, Devon Conway carrying his bat through the innings for an unbeaten 92 off 58 balls while his partner, young Finn Allen blasted 42 off just 16 balls in the Power-play and James Neesham hit a cameo of 26 off 13 deliveries to post a mammoth 200/3 in their 20 overs.

In what is being billed as a grudge match for the Black Caps, who lost the 2021 T20 World Cup final to the trans-Tasman rivals, the ever-reliable Conway remained unbeaten, missing his century by just eight runs as he put the Australian bowling attack to the sword, smashing seven boundaries and two sixes and guiding his side to 200/3.

India's clean slate of wins over Pakistan in T20 World Cups was shattered when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan chased down 151/7 comfortably, after left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi's burst through the Indian top-order in 2021.

Lee said almost a year back, Australia were the underdogs, bereft of "form" and "struggling", but they won their maiden T20 World Cup title in the UAE in 2021, adding that with every player a match-winner, they could once again do it in front of the home crowd.

With India having gone without winning a T20 World Cup after the triumph in the inaugural edition in 2007, captain Rohit Sharma believes that the showpiece event in Australia gives his side a chance to change the trend of being winless in ICC events in the last nine years. "It's a challenge to not win an ICC trophy for nine long years, if I am not wrong. The last one we won was in 2013 (Champions Trophy).

England are strong contenders for the T20 World Cup after their campaign was halted abruptly in the semifinal of the 2021 edition in the UAE by New Zealand. "England's strongest player is their captain, Jos Buttler, and he has a terrible record against Rashid Khan. If he turns over Jos (Buttler) early in the game, I think it's going to cause a big headache for England," Morgan was quoted as saying by ICC.

A clash between the two giant Asian cricket-playing countries at a World Cup venue arouses passion, not only on the field but also off it. Cricket fever engulfs the huge following of both the nations and winning is all that matters finally. The rivalry between players is only on the field as cricketers respect each other immensely. However, the match has that oomph factor in which mental strength plays an important factor for all the players involved.

In the match played at Hobart, leg-spinner Gareth Delany picked up career-best figures of 3/16 while veteran opener Paul Stirling slammed a sensational 66 not out to take Ireland to the Super 12 stage with a nine-wicket drubbing of West Indies in a decisive Group B match of the first round at Bellerive Oval on Friday.

In white-ball matches, Boult has got the better of Aaron Finch twice in T20Is and five times in ODIs. Moreover, since Australia won the T20 World Cup last year in the UAE, Finch has been out to left-arm pacers 14 times, with his strike-rate against them at 108.