The Black Caps go marching on to the T20 World Cup final, as Jordan gets pummelled by Neesham and Mitchell in the death overs!
New Zealand 167 for 5 (Mitchell 72*, Conway 46, Neesham 27; Livingstone 2-22) beat England 166 for 4 (Malan 41, Moeen 51*; Southee 1-24) by 5 wickets
Daryl Michell was the hero, as New Zealand chased down 167 in Abu Dhabi, to seal a spot in the T20 World Cup final. The Black Caps’ opener carried his bat in a stunning knock and produced a brilliant display of power-hitting, as New Zealand raced through the gears to avoid a nervy finish.
Chris Woakes’ two early wickets in the Powerplay had restricted the Kiwi chase. However, a steadying knock from Devon Conway and a quickfire 27 from James Neesham put New Zealand on top. Chris Jordan bowled the 16th over, which went for 23 runs. That well and truly swung this match in New Zealand’s favour!
It was Mitchell who finished the job. He smacked 25 off his last seven deliveries to send New Zealand into the final. In the end, they won with an over to spare.
Earlier, Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan helped England reach 166/4 in an unusually scratchy first innings from the Three Lions.
Scoring was slow and steady for much of England’s effort with the bat. Openers Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler were unspectacular in the powerplay, before Dawid Malan and Moeen’s partnership rebuilt the innings.
Some big hitting late on from Liam Livingstone and Moeen (who finished on unbeaten on 51), helped England get to 166/4.
Eoin Morgan’s men needed a big effort from their bowling attack to limit New Zealand’s reply. They were unable to provide it and missed out on appearing at a third ICC World Cup final on the bounce.
