England rescued their T20 World Cup hopes as they held their nerve to see off New Zealand by 20 runs at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday. England, who had been facing almost certain elimination had they lost, moved up into the top two in Group one along with their opponents with one round of matches to go. Skipper Jos Buttler smashed 73 off 47 balls as England reached 179-6 and finally started to show why they were one of the pre-tournament favourites.
NZ openers depart early
They then got away to a perfect start in the field when New Zealand opener Devon Conway leg-glanced a ball from Chris Woakes and Buttler took a spectacular diving catch. Finn Allen then pulled a slower ball from Sam Curran to Ben Stokes at deep mid-wicket, leaving New Zealand 28-2 after five overs. The Black Caps were struggling until Moeen Ali dropped the in-form Glenn Phillips when he was on 15 and NZ 64-2. Phillips skied an attempted pull straight to Ali, who couldn’t get a hand to it.
England’s Ben Stokes (right) congratulates pacer Sam Curran for taking a NZ wicket. Pics/AFP
Phillips made the English pay as he raced to his half century off only 25 balls. Buttler was ringing the changes with his attack as he tried seven bowlers to try and make the breakthrough. His seventh choice finally paid off when Kane Williamson (40) squeezed a Stokes delivery to Adil Rashid at short third. James Neesham came and went for six but Phillips kept on smashing the England attack all over the Gabba.
Also Read: T20 World Cup: Jos Buttler confident of making semis despite rain woes
No support for Phillips
While Phillips kept the scoreboard ticking, he got no support from the other end. He lost Daryl Mitchell, caught on the boundary by substitute fielder Chris Jordan off Mark Wood, before falling the same way off Sam Curran almost immediately. Once Phillips fell, New Zealand’s challenge was as good as over as the lower order struggled to find the boundary.
Brief scores
England 179-6 in 20 overs (J Buttler 73; A Hales 52; L Ferguson 2-45) beat New Zealand 159-6 in 20 overs (G Phillips 62; S Curran 2-26, C Woakes 2-33) by 20 runs
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