Dubai: New Zealand ended England’s hopes at the Men’s T20 World Cup with a dramatic semi-final victory in Abu Dhabi.The Black Caps were struggling in pursuit of 167 before Jimmy Neesham smashed three sixes to swing the game in his side’s favour.
He fell for 27 from 11 balls in the 18th over but, with 20 now needed from 12 balls, opener Daryl Mitchell took on the assault, hitting Chris Woakes for two sixes.
With England’s bowlers struggling at the death, Mitchell ended 72 not out from 47 balls as New Zealand won by five wickets with an over to spare.
It ends England’s quest to become the first team to hold both the mens’ 50 and 20-over World Cups at the same time.
New Zealand, beaten in incredible fashion when the same sides met in the 2019 World Cup final, will face Australia or Pakistan in Sunday’s showpiece.
Williamson, New Zealand skipper, said, ‘Most players have played together in various tournaments. Knew it was going to be a great game of cricket. Thought they had a pretty competitive total. But just by staying in there, building the partnerships and cashing in on some moments, some matchups. Definitely something that stood out today (Mitchell’s character). Has batted beautifully in a high pressure situation. T20 cricket – it’s a game of small margins. Depending on the surface, the short side – these things can be match-defining. He came out and hit the ball hard, that’s what he does (neesham). Changed the momentum really. Fantastic knock from Daryll, hit the big shots when it counted. We’ll be following that match – going to be fantastic. We know we have another challenge coming up and we’ll change our focus after tonight.’
Morgan, losing captain, said, ‘Coming into the game we knew both sides were close in skill. Full credit to Kane and his team. They outplayed us today. Have represented ourselves in this tournament really well. Proud of the guys. They have given everything in this tournament. Thought we were right in the game until probably the 17th, 18th overs. We had them exactly where we wanted them up until that point. It was (sluggish). We’re a six-hitting side but we struggled to hit sixes. But we hung in there and posted probably a par score. To come out and hit sixes from ball one like that – full credit to him (Neesham). Absolutely love playing cricket at the moment. At the forefront of change both on and off the field (the team).’
Daryl Mitchell, Player of the Match, ‘Ā It was a bit of a whirl at the end there. I couldn’t remember what was going on, but I’m happy I got the job done. It was a challenging surface, with the new ball, and it was two-paced. The way Conway set the platform and Neesh hit a few out of the ground was amazing. We knew one or two good overs would do it, and we got the momentum back thanks to Neesham’s hitting. With what’s going on around the world right now, it’s amazing that my old man travelled half way around the world to watch me play, so this is a proud moment.’