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A brilliant unbeaten 72 off 47 deliveries from opener Daryl Mitchell helped New Zealand beat England by five wickets in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to seal their first-ever T20 World Cup final.
In a sense, it was revenge from New Zealand for the heartbreak they faced in the Cricket World Cup final against England two years back. They gave that back and in style.
Batting first, a brilliant unbeaten 51 from Moeen Ali and 41 from Dawid Malan helped England pile a decent 166-4.
In reply, after losing a couple of wickets early in the innings, New Zealand were far behind the asking run rate for almost the whole of the innings.
But once James Neesham came in, and Mitchell found his range, there was no reply from England. With 57 required from the last four overs, the Blackcaps only needed three to seal their place in the final on Sunday. Neesham scored 27 off just 11 deliveries. After the match, Mitchell said that it was very challenging at the start and also gave Neesham the due credit.
“Nice to get the job done and move onto the big dance. Challenging, especially at the start. The way Devon Conway batted through the middle, and Neesham, really helped us. It’s a game of momentum, we knew we needed one or two big overs, and the way he struck the ball from ball one,” the player of the match said.
England skipper Eoin Morgan gave the due credit to the New Zealand side. He said, ”Full credit to Kane and his team, they outplayed us today, I can’t fault anything that we’ve done tonight.”
Winning the toss, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson opted to field first. England’s new opening pair of Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler put together 37 before Adam Milne removed Bairstow (13). Buttler (29) went three overs after when he tried to reverse sweep leg-spinner Ish Sodhi. From there on, Malan (41) and Moeen put together a 63-run partnership that gave England the launching pad for a flurry at the finish.
Liam Livingstone’s (17) cameo, along with Moeen staying unbeaten till the end took England to 166-4. Tim Southee was the Blackcaps’ best bowler as he ended with figures of 1-24, with Sodhi, Neesham and Milne picking up one each.
In reply, Chris Woakes rocked New Zealand straight away as he dismissed Martin Guptill (4) in the first over before striking again in the third to send back Williamson (5).
From there on, Mitchell and Devon Conway settled things down for New Zealand with a steady partnership. Their 82-run stand ended when Conway (46) was stumped off Livingstone. And then, with New Zealand needing 60 off the last five overs, Livingstone gave away only three runs.
But then came Neesham, and scored 23 off Chris Jordan’s over to make the game hang on a thread once again, with New Zealand requiring 34 off the last three overs. Adil Rashid’s next over produced 14 more as Mitchell reached his fifty with a six, but in the last delivery, England nicked off the crucial wicket of Neesham.
But the 19th over was the Mitchell show as he hit Woakes for two sixes and a four to secure New Zealand’s first-ever T20 World Cup final with five wickets and an over in hand.
