Unity key to England's World Cup run - Brook

Captain Harry Brook says England do not need to produce the perfect performance to win the T20 World Cup and "unity" has driven the team to the semi-finals.

England play co-hosts and pre-tournament favourites India in an enticing semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday (13:30 GMT).

They struggled at times in the group stage but progressed through the Super 8s with three wins from three, coming through tricky situations in all three matches.

"We are never quite out of the game," said Brook. "We've obviously had a lot of tight fixtures so far and we've managed to scrape along.

"The unity we have, the belief in each other, the belief that we can win games when we do get into those pressure situations and the calmness that we've had has been outstanding."

With England needing 43 from the last 18 balls to beat New Zealand on Friday, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed put on an unbeaten partnership of 44 from 16 balls to secure the win.

In the previous two games, England made a below-par 146-9 against Sri Lanka only to dismiss their co-hosts for 95 to secure victory, and were 58-4 against Pakistan before Brook himself hit a stunning century.

Those three victories followed a group stage where England struggled to beat Nepal, Scotland and Italy and were beaten by West Indies.

Their success also follows the dismal Ashes tour of Australia in Test cricket.

"I don't believe we need a perfect game to win the competition," said Brook, who is leading England for the first time at a World Cup.

"We've won those tight games which in World Cups prove to be very important and we've got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game.

"We've got a lot of competitive lads. Everybody wants to win, which is a given really, but even off the field when we're playing golf, playing cards, whatever, everybody is always really competitive and they always have that slight edge and they take it out into the cricket as well."

Brook said he expects Thursday's atmosphere to be "awesome", with the match to be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in front of 33,000 spectators.

England resisted naming an XI before the toss, but seam-bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton appears likely to replace leg-spinner Ahmed.

India were the overwhelming pre-tournament favourites but have also stuttered at times in the competition.

They were given a scare by the United States in the group stage and were well beaten by South Africa in the Super 8s.

"I said the other day there's a lot of pressure on both sides, potentially more on them going into here with the crowd and the disappointment they had against South Africa as well," Brook said.

"But we're just going to go out there, stick to what we know and assess conditions as quickly as possible and give it real good fight."

The match is a repeat of the 2022 semi-final which England won by 10 wickets in Adelaide. The sides also met in the last four in 2024, with India winning convincingly.

England were beaten 4-1 in a five-match T20 series in India last year under Jos Buttler's captaincy but have won 16 of 18 completed matches in the format since Brook took over at the start of last year.

Brook has been rewarded for decisions made at the start of his tenure, like recalling 36-year-old spinner Liam Dawson, picking Tom Banton in the middle order and Jacks as a finisher.

"When I took over, this [World Cup] was a year away and it felt like it needed a little bit of planning," Brook said.

"That was slightly part of the planning to try and get some game time in those guys then slowly build some confidence up knowing they were going to be in the side most of the time.

"They've taken those roles on beautifully.

"Jacksy has had four man-of-the-matches in this World Cup, he's been the standout player of the competition, arguably.

"Dawson has played a massive role in plenty of games. Banton's won us a few games off his own bat."