With a huge seven wickets in the first semifinal, England won over New Zealand, in ICC WT20 match held last night, at Kotla stadium in Delhi.
The opening partnership Jason Roy and Alex Haley worked out up to 82 runs. Mitchell Santner, the Kiwis lead bowler, made the breakthrough with Alex Hales’s wicket in 9th over and thus England made light of a 154 run chase.
Roy, the man of the match, this time alongside England’s lead bat Joe Root, carried on in stand and deliver fashion. He blazed his way to a 26-ball half century and was unstoppable upto 78 (44b, 11x5, 2x6) by Ish Sodhi.
The leg-spinner then removed Morgan first ball and then England team were suddenly down to 110/3. However, Root (26, 22b) was solid as a rock in knocking off the remaining 44 runs with the busy Jos Buttler (32, 17b, 2x4, 3x6).
Also read: WT20: South Africa notable victory over Sri Lanka
At the loss of Martin Guptill’s wicket, New Zealand coasted to 51. Skipper Kane Williamson then put on a busy 74 runs for the second wicket along with top run-getter Chris Munro, as the Kiwis got to 89/2 in the first 10 overs.
The Kiwis imploded, once Williamson had fallen to the off-spin of Moeen Ali for a 28-ball 32. Munro took onto bat for an aggressive 46 (32b), but he failed to get to terms with a track that gave England’s quick bowlers plenty to work with.
In the last 5 overs, New Zealand came under the cosh, which in most T20 matches is the most productive period.
When there is a need to push the run rate, Munro, Corey Anderson (28, 23b), Ross Taylor and Luke Ronchi - the spine of the lineup - all trudged back to the dugout against the spirited bowling, of whom Stokes (3/28) was the standout performer.
David Willey (1/17), Chris Jordan (1/24), Liam Plunkett (1/38) and Ali (1/10) also finished amongst the wickets in a performance their captain will justifiably be proud of.
By Phani Ch
