T20 World Cup: England fingers first loss to New Zealand, boosts semifinals probabilities

Jos Buttler (73, 47b, 7x4, 2x6) made probably the most of two reprieves to information his group to 179, earlier than the England bowlers defended the overall to earn a 20-run victory in a must-win Tremendous 12 fixture towards New Zealand on the Gabba on Tuesday. 

This victory means England stays within the hunt for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup. 

The England captain practically returned to the dugout for eight – Kane Williamson operating backwards to tug off a stunner. Replays, nonetheless, confirmed that the ball had hit the bottom when Williamson landed. 

Buttler made use of the dropped probability and justified his choice to bat after successful the toss. The England captain solid an 81-run opening partnership with Alex Hales. Hales, too, shrugged off early jitters and introduced up his half-century in simply 39 balls by slashing a Mitchell Santner supply by deep third. 

England vs New Zealand HIGHLIGHTS and Full Scorecard

Although Hales was stumped on the very subsequent supply, Buttler took cost and acquired previous his 50 in 35 balls. He hit consecutive boundaries to begin Trent Boult’s third over – the innings’ fifteenth — and went previous Eoin Morgan to turn into England’s highest run-scorer in T20Is. 

Liam Livingstone landed a few lusty blows from the opposite finish however departed for 20 within the 18th over, with the group’s whole at 153. Buttler’s innings ended within the nineteenth over when Williamson stopped a Ben Stokes drive on the circle and threw it again to the bowler’s finish. 

Regardless that England misplaced its final 4 wickets for simply 23 runs, it set a steep goal of 180, taking 15 runs from the ultimate over.  

Defending a tall whole, England launched Moeen Ali within the opening over – a transfer aimed to benefit from the floor that aided spinners. Whereas Devon Conway and Finn Allen struggled towards Ali, it was Chris Woakes who struck within the subsequent over. Buttler took a diving catch down the leg aspect as New Zealand misplaced Conway early on. 

Nevertheless, benefiting from a dropped catch by Ali, when he was on 15, Glenn Phillips (62, 36b, 4x4, 3x6) solid a 91-run partnership with captain Williamson to offer New Zealand a glimmer of hope. 

Glenn Phillips scored 62 off 36 balls to offer hope to New Zealand, however the group fell brief by 20 runs. | Picture Credit score: AP

Phillips hit 4 boundaries, however it was yet one more timid innings from Williamson – a run-a-ball 40. 

When New Zealand was slowly bouncing again into the sport, with 61 wanted off 30 balls, Williamson’s departure and simply three runs from the sixteenth over by Mark Wooden turned the tide for England. 

With Phillips batting until the 18th over, the 22,547 followers current on the Gabba would have hoped for a a lot nearer end than New Zealand requiring 26 within the last over. Sam Curran (two for 26) conceded simply 5 runs within the last over and New Zealand ended at 159-6. 

Australia’s probabilities of qualifying for the semifinals suffered a blow after England’s win. Regardless that the 2 groups are on equal factors, the defending champion remains to be far behind England’s Web Run Fee and now, even a big-margin win over Afghanistan on Friday could not assure the Aussies a spot within the last-four.