New Zealand have won against England in the first semi-final of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Daryl Mitchel and Jimmy Neesham’s heroic batting help them to beat England. With this victory, the Kiwis have taken their revenge for losing in the World Cup Final 2019 against the same opponent. Now New Zealand have to wait for today’s match between Australia and Pakistan to know their opponent in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final.
Match Report
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss at Sheikh Zayed Stadium and decided to bowl first. The Kiwis played in the semi-final with an unchanged team. On the other side, England made some changes to play against the Black Caps. Opener Jason Roy has been injured in the match against South Africa. As a result, England replaced him with Sam Billings.
However, two openers of England played carefully from the starting of the innings. They added 37 runs together on the scoreboard. Then, England lost their first wicket as Adam Milne took the wicket of J. Bairstow. New batsman Dawid Malan tried to make a partnership with the other opener, Josh Buttler. But, in the ninth over, Buttler lost his wicket to Ish Sodhi. He scored 29 runs from 24 balls.
After that, Dawid Maland made a partnership of 63 runs with Moeen Ali. Moeen Ali got a half-century. He scored an unbeaten 51 runs from 37 balls. He hit three boundaries and two over boundaries. Moeen Ali also scored the highest individual runs for the three lions. Overall, England scored 166 runs in total after 20 overs. Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, and Jimmy Neesham got one wicket each.
Chasing 166 runs, New Zealand lost two wickets in a very short time. Opener Martin Guptil had to go back to the pavilion in the third ball of the innings. England pacer Chris Woakes hit again in the third over. This time he picked up the wicket of captain Kane Williamson.
After losing two quick wickets, New Zealand were under tremendous pressure. Opener Daryl Mitchell and Conway help the team to overcome this situation. They made a partnership of 82 runs. However, Conway lost his wicket to Liam Livingstone in the 14th over. Then Neesham came on the pitch and hit three sixes. He scored 27 runs from 11 balls only. However, New Zealand needed 20 runs in the final two overs. But for the aggressiveness of Daryl Mitchell, New Zealand won the match in 19 overs. Mitchell scored 72 runs from 47 balls and became the player of the match.
Summary
England : 166/4 (20 Overs)
New Zealand : 167/5 (19 Overs)
