Hugh Morris delighted to host England for crunch semi-final

9 Jun 2017 | International
Chief Executive Hugh Morris is looking forward to England’s return to Cardiff for the Champions Trophy semi-final on Wednesday.

England secured their position as Group A winners after comfortably defeating New Zealand by 87 runs in Cardiff on Monday and will now play the runners-up of Group B in the Welsh capital.   

“England will be pleased to have sealed the win and a semi-final spot and we are looking forward to hosting them next week and I know they are pleased to be returning,” said Hugh Morris.

"It is a real boost and this is a ground England have done well on. In the last 10 years England have only lost two games of cricket and it's a ground they do well on.

England posted over 300 again in the match, easily the best record of any Champions Trophy team since the 2015 Cricket World Cup and New Zealand and looked unsettled chasing the target. 

A ball from Liam Plunkett leapt up and hit Taylor on the helmet before Williamson was dismissed for 87 with a rising delivery from Mark Wood. 

Williamson claimed afterwards it was a difficult surface to bat on, but BBC cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew stated it was excellent England bowling and Morris agreed.

"I thought it played really well," said Morris. "England got 310 and were probably hoping to get 330, which on any ground is a competitive total.

"When New Zealand were 158 for two ahead of the required rate and ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis [method], they probably thought they were on course for a victory.

"England will be pleased with the way they finished the game. They have played a lot of cricket here in recent years so they know the ground pretty well.

"The rain the day before was torrential and the ground staff did magnificently well to make sure the pitch and outfield was in good condition to start on time and get a whole day's play in."

"A number of people might have looked at the weather forecast and decided not to have turned up," said Morris.

"It was an interesting situation because we sold all the tickets bar 300 for the game.  The bottom line is we sold 98 per cent of tickets for the game.

It is not yet clear who England will face in the semi-final with South Africa, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka all still able to qualify from Group B, and with Cardiff hosting Pakistan against Sri Lanka on Monday, it could prove to be the pivotal game in the group.

"Cricket in India is a religion and everybody is fascinated by it, but whether it's India or South Africa or anyone else we will look forward to hosting them."

"We have sold out the match and we are expecting a good atmosphere whoever they play.”

Before next week's semi-final, the Cardiff Wales Stadium will host two more group games when New Zealand face Bangladesh on Friday, 9 June, and Pakistan and Sri Lanka play on Monday 12 June.

"They are two important games of cricket," said Morris.

"New Zealand can still qualify for the semi-finals and that will be a good game against Bangladesh on Friday.

"We have Sri Lanka and Pakistan here on Monday and it is always a good environment with their fans.  It is great to be hosting a world tournament because you see the best cricketers on show."

Tickets for Pakistan against Sri Lanka are still available -  CLICK HERE to secure your seats for the match.