Games semi-finals: All you need to know

What's the schedule?

Semi-finals, Saturday August 6, Edgbaston 

England v India, 11am local (8pm AEST)

Australia v New Zealand, 6pm local (3am Sunday AEST)

Medal matches, Sunday August 7, Edgbaston

Bronze medal match, 10am local (7pm AEST)

Gold medal match, 5pm local (2am Monday AEST)

How can I watch?

Channel Seven hold the exclusive rights for the live coverage, replays and highlights for the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Fans can keep up with the semi-finals (and Australia's pursuit of gold in every sport!) across Seven, 7mate and streaming via 7plus. Seven will be providing coverage across all the Games' events, so for unfiltered and uninterrupted cricket coverage, your best bet is to tune in to a 7plus stream.

Australia's Lisa Sthalekar will lead the cricket commentary team, along with Alison Mitchell, ex-West Indies cricketer Stacy Ann King and Natalie Germanos, while those who prefer radio will be able to listen to SEN, who will broadcast the live Seven commentary via their network.

What if it rains?

Fortunately, there is no rain forecast for Birmingham this weekend. But if that does suddenly change, there is no reserve day for the semi-finals, so in the event of a washout, Australia and England would advance as the higher-ranked qualifiers. However, if a medal match cannot be completed on Sunday due to rain, Monday has been set aside as a reserve day.

Semi-final 2: Australia v New Zealand

Edgbaston, 6pm local (3am AEST, 2.30am ACST, 1am AWST)

Likely teams

Australia have gone unchanged throughout the tournament and that seems set to remain the case for the semi-final, unless there is a last-minute injury, or if the change from a hybrid pitch to a traditional turf pitch prompts a change in tactics.

New Zealand have stuck to a similar line-up through the group change, bringing in Rosemary Mair for their second game and rotating left-arm orthodox bowler Fran Jonas with off-spinner Eden Carson, so it is unlikely much will change against Australia. 

Australia: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alana King, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

New Zealand: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Izzy Gaze (wk), Lea Tahuhu, Hannah Rowe, Rosemary Mair, Fran Jonas

ICC T20I Rankings

Australia: 1st; New Zealand 3rd 

Road to the semi-finals

Australia's form line (most recent first): WWW

New Zealand's form line: WWL

Australia advanced through the group stage unbeaten but were forced to dig deep at various stages. They recovered from 5-49 against India to pull off a three wicket win chasing 155, thanks to a match-winning partnership between Ashleigh Gardner and Grace Harris. They rolled Barbados for 64 in a nine-wicket win, then come back from a sluggish start against Pakistan to put on a commanding 160, sealing a 44-run win.

New Zealand started the tournament with an all-important win over South Africa that put them in the box seat for a return to the knockout stages of a major tournament. They were shaky at times batting first against Sri Lanka but with the help of a Lea Tahuhu cameo, were able to post a winning total. However they will need to move on quickly from their humbling defeat to England, which saw them score 9-71 from their 20 overs before losing by seven wickets.

Overall record

Played 46 | Australia 23 | New Zealand 21 | Tied 1 | No result 1

Last time they met in T20Is

Australia 4-129 (Mooney 61, Haynes 29; Mackay 2-20) lost to New Zealand 6-131 (Mackay 46, Kerr 36; Schutt 2-24) by four wickets in 20 overs at McLean Park, Napier in March 2021

In-form players

Leg-spinner Alana King has been the standout bowler of Australia's UK tour and has five wickets already these Commonwealth Games. The batters have shared the spoils, but Tahlia McGrath looks to be finding good all-round form, having taken six wickets in the last two games alongside her unbeaten 78 against Pakistan.

For New Zealand, Hayley Jensen has been finding swing with the new ball – she credits new coach Ben Sawyer for her improvement – and will be key to picking up early wickets. Suzie Bates is the tournament's leading run scorer despite missing out against England.

So how do they stack up?

Recent results, depth and history are in Australia's favour, but New Zealand have renewed confidence under new coach Ben Sawyer and will back themselves to cause an upset. No team with Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr can ever be discounted, and they have a habit of turning up against their trans-Tasman rivals.

Semi-final 1: England v India 

Edgbaston, 11am local (8pm Sunday AEST, 7.30pm ACST, 6pm AWST)

Likely teams

England have already confirmed captain Heather Knight has been ruled out of the Games with a hip injury suffered during the recent T20 series against South Africa, with Natalie Sciver to continue leading in her place. Like Australia, they have remained unchanged through the Games so far so can be expected to stick with the same line-up.

India have swapped their spinners and adjusted their middle-order but now that Pooja Vastrakar has re-joined the side followed her delayed arrival due to COVID, and given their 100-run win in their most recent outing against Barbados, they are unlikely to be making many changes for the semi-final.

England: Danielle Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Natalie Sciver (c), Amy Jones (wk), Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Freya Kemp, Issy Wong, Sarah Glenn

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Pooja Vastrakar, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh

ICC ODI Rankings

England 2nd; India 4th

Road to the semi-finals

England's form line (most recent first): WWW

India's form line: LWW 

India thought they had Australia on the ropes in the opening match of the Games, but they learned an important lesson about the depth in Meg Lanning's side as they ultimately suffered a three-wicket defeat. They bounced back in style, smashing Pakistan by eight wickets and Barbados by 100 runs.

England were not wholly convincing in their first game, beating Sri Lanka by five wickets having been set 107 for victory, before 17-year-old Alice Capsey shone against South Africa, scoring her first international half-century to help set up a 26-run win. But they will take plenty of confidence from routing New Zealand, restricting the Kiwis to 9-71 before chasing the target with relative ease.

Overall record

Played 22 | England 17 | India 5

Last time they met in T20Is

India 6-153 (Mandhana 70, Kaur 36; Ecclestone 3-35) lost to England 2-154 (Wyatt 89*, Sciver 42; Rana 1-27) by eight wickets in 18.4 overs at Chelmsford in July 2021

In-form players

For England, Sophie Ecclestone has continued to prove why she is the world's top-ranked T20I bowler, capturing five wickets and maintaining an economy rate of 4.75 through the group stage. With the bat, 17-year-old Alice Capsey has made an impressive start to her international career, hitting fifty against South Africa.

For India, Renuka Singh Thakur – the architect of Australia's top-order collapse – has taken nine wickets in three games and will be targeting Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley. Shafali Verma has not hit a fifty but is India's leading run scorer from the group stage, with those runs coming at a damaging strike rate of 157. 

So how do they stack up?

England and India go head-to-head in a semi-final once more, and unlike the 2020 T20 World Cup, this time it does not look like rain will spoil the party! England are full of confidence and have the home advantage – they also have more experience at winning knockout matches. The washout of 2020 aside, England came out on top in their two previous knockout meetings, defeating India in the 2018 T20 World Cup semi-final, and the 2017 World Cup final. But India have more than enough firepower to upset the hosts and this is shaping up to be a cracking contest.  

2022 Commonwealth Games

Australia's squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington

See all the Commonwealth Games cricket squads here

Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, Barbados

Group B: England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka

July 29: Australia beat India by three wickets

July 31: Australia beat Barbados by nine wickets

August 3: Australia beat Pakistan by 44 runs

Semi-finals: August 6

England v India, 11am local (8pm AEST)

Australia v New Zealand, 6pm local (3am Aug 7 AEST)

Bronze medal match: August 7, 10am local (7pm AEST)

Gold medal match: August 7, 5pm local (2am Aug 8 AEST)

All matches played at Edgbaston Stadium