England First To World Cup Semis

Reigning champions England gave rise to the biblical principle that the last will be first and the first will be last when they became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup. The English were facing elimination during the group stage earlier this month, and defeat against South Africa in their first Super Eight contest this past Friday in St Lucia put them under pressure, but they crushed the United States by 10 wickets today in Barbados to power into the final four. Chris Jordan became the second bowler to take a hat-trick in the tournament, and England dismissed the Americans for 115 in 18.5 overs after they were put in to bat in their final Group 2 match at Kensington Oval. England captain Jos Buttler then hit a whirlwind, unbeaten 83 from 38 balls that included six fours and seven sixes and fellow opener Phil Salt was not out on 25, and the English chased their target in only 9.4 overs and will progress to the next stage because of a significant boost to their net run-rate. Buttler and Salt took a couple of overs to find their range before they started...