New Zealand vs England T20 World Cup semi-final: Eoin Morgan sees similarities between 2010 winners and current side

Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Rory Dollard30 March 2016

Eoin Morgan believes England's World Twenty20 semi-finalists have the same temperament as the side which won the competition six years ago.

Morgan, England's limited-overs captain, is the only survivor from the class of 2010, who won England's first major global tournament in the Caribbean.

Back then he was joined by the likes of captain Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad - a much more experienced group than the one he will lead out against New Zealand in Delhi.

But the spirit in the dressing room strikes a familiar note with Morgan.

"I see a few (similarities) actually," he said.

"The main one would be how relaxed everybody is around the group. How much they are enjoying the challenge of playing international cricket at the moment and their hunger to win.

"It is all right having fun and enjoying what you are doing but if you don't have that inner drive to want to improve and win games of cricket you are going to stand still for a long time. This side has shown strengths which are similar to 2010."

New Zealand, the only unbeaten side in the last four, are familiar opponents having been identified as a benchmark when England sought to overhaul their white-ball game after their 2015 World Cup woes.

After changing both personnel and philosophy, the Black Caps were also the first side to fall to 'new' England, losing a thrilling one-day series and a solitary T20 early last summer.

"We'd talked about emulating what Australia and New Zealand did at that World Cup," admitted Morgan.

"From where we were to where they were...we were miles away.

"Can I believe how far we've come? Absolutely not."

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New Zealand are pondering restoring at least one of their experienced pace pair Tim Southee and Trent Boult for the match.

They sat out the entirety of the Super 10 stage on a variety of spinning pitches, but will come under consideration again at a greener Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

"They're very much ready to go," said captain Kane Williamson.

"We've simply tried to pick horses for courses, our best team for the conditions at any given time and that certainly won't change."

England Women will also contest a World Twenty20 semi-final, taking on Ashes rivals Australia in the first game of a double header.

Charlotte Edwards' side had a 100 per cent record in the group stage but their reward was a last-four meeting with the Southern Stars, the game's dominant force in the past four years.

Head coach Mark Robinson, leading England for the first time in a tournament, hopes to break their stranglehold and has already made an impression on Edwards.

"Robbo has come in and he's got his own take on women's cricket," she said.

"He wants us to be more aggressive. He wants us to hit more boundaries. We're looking for the intent to score boundaries, hit 360 degrees and have shots in our lockers to bring out at any point.

"We are a talented squad and we've been in last two World Cup finals so let's hope it's third time lucky."

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