With one game left, England wins to take second place in their group.By defeating New Zealand by 20 runs in Brisbane, England restored their Twenty20 World Cup ambitions.
With one set of games remaining, England and its opponents moved into the top two of Group One, where they would have virtually certainly been eliminated with a loss on Tuesday.
The top two competitors from each group advance to the semi-finals.
The victory puts a lot of pressure on the defending champions Australia, who must now defeat Afghanistan in their final game and pray that either England or New Zealand lose their final group encounter.
England captain Jos Buttler, who helped his team to 179-6 after scoring 73 off 47 balls, said, “We had a horrible performance [in the defeat to Ireland], but there’s a lot of confidence in the group. Alex Hales also scored fifty runs.
We were hoping for 160-165, but we managed to go over that; tonight, we gave it everything we had.
With the bat, the skipper was instrumental as England began to demonstrate why they were one of the pre-tournament favourites. Now they control their own destiny.
When New Zealand starter Devon Conway leg-glanced a ball from Chris Woakes, Jos Buttler made a breathtaking diving grab to give England the advantage in the field.
After five overs
After five overs, New Zealand was 28-2 when Finn Allen caught a slower ball from Sam Curran and sent it to Ben Stokes at deep mid-wicket.
While facing a tight bowling attack, the Black Caps were having trouble, but when Moeen Ali dismissed the in-form Glenn Phillips with New Zealand 64-2 and he was on 15, the tides turned decisively in their favour.
Ali managed to avoid Phillips’ attempted draw shot, which he skied directly to Ali.
The English were punished by Phillips, who smashed a century against Sri Lanka in New Zealand’s most recent game, as he took just 25 balls to reach his half-century.
Buttler was switching up his attack and used seven different bowlers in an effort to make a breakthrough.
When Black Caps captain Kane Williamson (40) squeezed a Stokes delivery to Adil Rashid at short third, his seventh choice finally paid off.
While James Neesham attempted multiple sixes, Phillips continued to pound the England attack all over the Gabba.
Almost immediately after losing Daryl Mitchell, who was caught on the boundary by replacement fielder Chris Jordan off Mark Wood, he fell the same way off Sam Curran.
As the lower order struggled to locate the boundary after Phillips fell, New Zealand’s challenge was all but done.
Expelling Black Caps
Williamson added, “Credit to the way England played.
“They exert pressure on us. Hats off to them; they performed well. They were really methodical.
“The total was just a hair above par. Although we made an effort, they bowled exceptionally well.
Williamson later came to regret not bringing charges against Buttler.
Williamson proclaimed, “He’s one of, if not the finest player in the game.
He threatened to make you pay if you did it because he made the boundaries appear smaller than they actually are.
After four games, New Zealand, England, and Australia all have five points.
But on net run rate, New Zealand, the runner-up in last year’s finals, leads Group 1, with England coming in second.
Against Friday, the hosts take on already-eliminated Afghanistan, while New Zealand, who could have guaranteed a berth in the semi-finals with a win, plays Ireland.
On Saturday, England plays Asian champion Sri Lanka to finish the group.