Kiwis are 'working-class': Bayliss

Despite their strides in limited overs cricket, New Zealand have been described as international scrappers who punch above their weight by England coach Trevor Bayliss.

The Black Caps face England in the World Twenty20 semi-final at Delhi on Wednesday, seeking to reach their second world tournament final in the space of year and have notched four relatively comfortable pool wins to be the only unbeaten in the tournament so far.

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Bayliss believes the good form displayed by New Zealand, who lost to Australia in the final of last year’s ODI World Cup, is based on their battling attitude.

"New Zealand are very - don't take this the wrong way - they've got a very working-class mentality," he said.

"They're hard grinders, they'll do what they need to do to win. And they've always been like that, whether it's their rugby or their cricket. So they're going to be very difficult to beat."

England and New Zealand are 2-2 in their previous T20 meetings and the two sides met in a warm-up match for this tournament, which Bayliss’ men won by six wickets.

Both teams have downplayed the Black Caps' lack of familiarity with Delhi

New Zealand haven't played any international match in Delhi since 1999, while England are coming off successive games at the venue, having completed their group schedule with wins over Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Kiwis’ batting coach Craig McMillan is unconcerned that England will have had more than a week in Delhi while his side will need to adapt quickly to a pitch which appears faster than anything they have played on at the tournament.

"We're going to another city so we'll need to do our homework and our scouting. But the guys have been very thorough at that," he said.

"I guess that's been one of the strengths and the ticks for the guys is that they've adjusted very well and quickly. With the bat in tough conditions, we've managed to get a total just above par most of the time."

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England's two tense wins in Delhi revived a campaign which looked on the ropes when they lost their opening game to group top qualifiers the West Indies.

They batted first on both occasions, defending 142-7 by 15 runs against Afghanistan and 171-4 by 10 runs against Sri Lanka.

Bayliss says their familiarity with the ground hands them only a small edge.

"I'm not sure about an advantage but it should give us an idea of what to expect from the wicket," he said.

"It could certainly be worse. Having played two games here already we should know what to expect from the wicket."