A gritty New Zealand reached their first-ever 20-over World Cup final after a five-wicket win over England in Abu Dhabi. In an evenly fought contest, New Zealand chased down a challenging total of 167 with six balls to spare. Daryl Mitchell emerged the hero for the Kiwis with an unbeaten 72. However, James Neesham’s 11-ball 27 was the turning point in the match. The all-rounder smashed 23 runs off Chris Jordan in the 17th over.
England posted 166/4 in 20 overs courtesy of an unbeaten 51 from Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan’s 41. Tim Southee and Adam Milne impressed with the ball as the duo picked up a wicket each and gave away only 55 runs in eight overs. Chris Woakes, who removed Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson in the powerplay, and Liam Livingstone grabbed two wickets each for England.
A par score
An unchanged New Zealand put Jason Roy-less England to bat first after winning the toss. The new opening pair added 37 runs before Jonny Bairstow perished in the last over of the powerplay for 13. England lost their second wicket when Ish Sodhi trapped Jos Buttler in front. The wicketkeeper-batter reviewed the on-field umpire’s call, but the replays showed the ball would have crashed onto the off-stump.
Malan, dropped on ten by Devon Conway, upped his tempo in the middle overs. He struck three boundaries in four balls, while Moeen, at the other end, put away a loose delivery from Sodhi to register his first four. England reached the three-figure mark in the 14th over. Malan took Southee to the cleaners, but the Kiwi pacer dismissed the Englishman in the next ball. The left-handed duo added 63 for the third wicket.
England added 56 runs in their final overs thanks to a quickfire stand between Moeen and Livingstone. The Birmingham Phoenix captain brought up his third T20I half-century. He hammered three fours and two sixes. Livingstone, too, played a valuable hand as England put up a fighting total.
A tale of two fightbacks
New Zealand made a woeful start to their run chase. Experienced batters Guptill and Williamson departed within the opening three overs. Mitchell and Conway steered the Kiwis to 36/2 at the end of the powerplay. The pair struggled to find the boundaries, and the asking rate was almost 11. Conway and Mitchell managed to clear the ropes off Mark Wood and Adil Rashid, respectively. New Zealand needed 75 off seven overs.
Livingstone put an end to the 82-run partnership with the wicket of Conway, stumped by Buttler for 46. The part-time spinner struck again as he got rid of Glenn Phillips in his final over and finished with figures of 2/22. England seemed to be heading towards another final. Eoin Morgan brought on Jordan, with New Zealand needing 57 off 24 balls. The new man Neesham thrashed the first ball over the midwicket for a six. He hit another boundary and a six in the over, from which New Zealand scored 23 runs.
The England bowlers crumbled under pressure. Rashid was taken to the cleaners by Mitchell and Neesham. It left New Zealand 20 to win off 12 balls. Though Neesham perished for 27, Mitchell put the sword on Woakes in the penultimate over. He clobbered two sixes off the pacer and wrapped the run chase with a boundary. The 40-run partnership - off just 17 balls - between Mitchell and Neesham steered New Zealand to a final, where they will meet either Pakistan or Australia on Sunday.
Player of the Match - Daryl Mitchell
Mitchell managed only 148 runs from 13 T20I innings before the World Cup 2021. However, he had to open the batting with Guptill in UAE despite the Kiwis having a quality batter like Conway in the squad. The 30-year-old scored 27 against Pakistan and played a match-winning 49 in the second game. He stood tall and kept the run chase alive in the semi-final thanks to crucial partnerships of 82 and 40 with Conway and Neesham, respectively.
Top Fantasy Points scorers
A 64% of fantasy cricket enthusiasts were confident that Mitchell would make a significant contribution in the opening semi-final. The Hamilton-born all-rounder duly delivered with 96 points. He was the top fantasy points scorer in the match, while Moeen, selected by 87%, finished second after picking up 78 points. Also, Livingstone, Conway, Neesham, Woakes, and Malan registered 50-plus points at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
The top Fantasy XI: D Mitchell - 96 pts, M Ali - 78 pts, L Livingstone - 76 pts, D Conway - 65 pts, J Neesham - 61 pts, C Woakes - 60 pts, D Malan - 51 pts, J Buttler - 49 pts, A Rashid - 35 pts, T Southee - 31 pts, I Sodhi - 29 pts
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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