England defeated New Zealand by four wickets in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup Super Eight match, altering the Group 2 standings. With this result, England secured qualification for the semi-finals after winning all three of their Super Eight fixtures.
New Zealand, batting first, scored 159 for seven in 20 overs. Tim Seifert made 35 and Finn Allen scored 29 to provide the early runs, while Glenn Phillips top-scored with 39. England’s spin attack restricted the middle order, with Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed and Adil Rashid taking two wickets each, and Liam Dawson claiming one.
Chasing 160, England reached 161 for six in 19.3 overs. Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson removed Phil Salt and Jos Buttler within the first eight deliveries to leave England under early pressure. Harry Brook (26) and Jacob Bethell (21) added 45 runs to stabilise the innings before Glenn Phillips dismissed Brook with the first ball of his spell and later accounted for Bethell with a catch.
Sam Curran (24) and Tom Banton (33) then put on 42 runs for the middle order. Rachin Ravindra dismissed Curran to bring New Zealand back into the contest. England required 43 runs from the final three overs, during which Rehan Ahmed scored an unbeaten 19 off seven balls, including one four and one six. England collected 16 runs from Mitchell Santner’s over and 22 from Glenn Phillips’ over to move within reach of the target. Matt Henry was unable to defend the total in the final over as England completed the chase.
England have now won all three of their Super Eight matches and had already confirmed their place in the semi-finals.
