England defeated New Zealand by four wickets. England faced New Zealand in the Group 2 Super 8 match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. To reach the semi-finals, it was necessary for the Kiwi team to win this match. However, they failed to capitalize on their chances of qualifying for the next round.
New Zealand will have to wait for Sri Lanka to defeat Pakistan. Or even hope that the Men in Green do not beat Sri Lanka by a big margin to surpass their Net Run Rate (NRR). However, if Pakistan beats Sri Lanka.
New Zealand and Pakistan qualification scenario explained
In that case, both New Zealand and Pakistan will finish on three points. The team with better net run rate will advance. The Kiwis have not lost by a large margin of runs or wickets because they have taken the game deep.
For Pakistan, Sri Lanka will have to be defeated by a big margin. Only then can Pakistan surpass New Zealand’s net run rate of +1.390. It’s going to be an exciting contest on Saturday as we head into the final day of showdown, and the semi-final battle is shaping up to be exciting.
If Pakistan wins the toss and bats first and scores 160 runs, they need to win by 64+ runs. Later, if Sri Lanka scores 160, Salman Ali Aga’s team will have to win with 40+ balls to spare, which means they will have to win in just 13 overs while chasing the target of 160.
New Zealand’s over-reliance on spin disappointed them
Talking about the match, Mitchell Santner won the toss and decided to bat first. After a very good first over from Jofra Archer, the fast bowler bowled a maiden over. The Black Caps openers, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, started hitting at good pace from both ends. The former was the aggressive one between the two. Seifert, who was struggling a bit, returned to the pavilion after scoring 35 runs in 25 balls.
Later Allen was out to Will Jacques on the score of 29 runs in 19 balls. Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra put together a small partnership after two sudden wickets fell. Rachin was seen struggling against spin and returned after scoring just 11 runs.
Phillips played an innings of 39 runs in 28 balls, hitting four fours and a six. Later, Mark Chapman and Cole McConchie scored 15 off 9 and the latter scored 14 off 12, taking them to a defendable total of 160 runs.
Chasing the target, England lost Phil Salt for two runs in the first over and the wicket of Jos Buttler fell in the next over as the former England captain failed to open his account, his fifth consecutive single-digit score in the competition.
Will Jacques will be the savior for England
Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell then briefly settled in the middle at 2/2, sharing a partnership of 48 runs, before England captain Harry Brook was dismissed by Glenn Phillips on 26 off 24 balls. Bethel followed their captain when they were at 58/4 and Phillips took a brilliant catch to dismiss the southpaw.
Later, Sam Curran, Tom Banton and Will Jacks made valuable contributions to the team. Curran scored 24 runs off 22 balls and Banton, who looked set, was out playing a cheap shot at the score of 33 runs off 24 balls. With 21 runs needed from the last two overs, Jack and Rehan Ahmed made the chase look easy with three balls to spare.
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