T20 World Cup 2021: New Zealand beat England by 5 wickets to reach final
Some stunning late hitting from Daryl Mitchell and James Neesham took New Zealand to a thrilling five-wicket win over England in a thrilling first semifinal here on Wednesday to take their place in the T20 World Cup final .
Set 167 to win in Abu Dhabi, New Zealand looked in real trouble at 107-4 in the 16th over but a brilliant 11-ball blitz from Neesham brought 26 runs, including three sixes, and even when he fell to Adil Rashid, opener Daryl Mitchell (73no from 48 balls) took over with back-to-back maximums off Chris Woakes to put the Black Caps on the brink.
The right-hander then nailed a boundary off the last ball of the 19th over to seal the victory with an over to spare and end England’s bid to become the first side to hold both the 50-over and T20 World Cups.
After such a galling defeat to England in the 2019 World Cup final, New Zealand have gained a modicum of revenge and now have the opportunity to add the T20 crown to the ICC World Test Championship that they won earlier in the year.
Earlier, invited to bat, England posted 166 for four riding on Moeen Ali’s 51 not out and some useful contributions from Dawid Malan (42), Jos Buttler (29) and Liam Livingstone (17).
For New Zealand, Tim Southee (1/24), Adam Milne (1/31), Ish Sodhi (1/32) and James Neesham (1/18) were the wicket-takers.
Pakistan and Australia do battle in Dubai on Thursday (1.30pm, Sky Sports Cricket) in the second semi-final, each bidding to join New Zealand in Sunday’s final , also in Dubai
Brief scores:
England: 166 for 4 in 20 overs (Moeen Ali 51 not out, Dawid Malan 42; Tim Southee 1/24).
New Zealand: 167 for 5 in 19 overs (Daryl Mitchell 72; Liam Livingstone 2/22)