Mitchell for England

New Zealand made an incredible comeback with the bat to defeat England by five wickets in the Semi-Final 1 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Wednesday, and seal a spot in its maiden ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final.

New Zealand will next meet the winner of the second last-four clash between Pakistan and Australia, for the coveted trophy. Set to chase a challenging total of 167, the Kane Williamson-led side got there at the end with an over to spare.

Opening batter Daryl Mitchell (72 not out off 47 balls, 4 fours, 4 sixes), Devon Conway (46 off 38 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Jimmy Neesham (27 off 11 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes) powered their team into the summit clash after it was in a spot of bother at 13 for 2 in the 3rd over.

After England pacer Chris Woakes (2/36) removed both Martin Guptill (4) and Williamson (5) off his first two overs, Mitchell and Conway steadied the ship with an 82-run partnership for the third wicket. The right-left duo paced the chase well, not letting the required run rate go over the roof amidst some disciplined bowling.

But, Conway and Glenn Phillips (2) perished in quick succession as Neesham joined the experienced Mitchell in the middle. Needing as many as 57 runs of the last four overs, New Zealand knocked those off with ease. Chris Jordan and leg-spinner Adil Rashid were taken to the cleaners in the 17th and 18th overs, conceding 23 runs and 14 runs respectively, as New Zealand turned the tide its way.

Mitchell got the job done at the end of the 19th over by smashing Woakes for a couple of maximums and a four. Earlier, Moeen Ali top-scored with an unbeaten 51 off 37 deliveries to propel England to 166 for four. Sent into bat, the left-handed combination of Moeen and Dawid Malan (41 off 30 balls) were England’s main contributors with the willow. Moeen smashed three fours and two sixes, while Malan struck four boundaries and a maximum.

After three relatively quiet overs, opener Jos Buttler (29 off 24 balls) smashed left-arm pacer Trent Boult for two successive boundaries. Promoted to the top of the order in the absence of the injured Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (13) played a shot straight over the bowler’s head for a boundary as England reached 37 for no loss off five overs.

England then had a productive 11th over as it scored 11 runs, thanks to two fours by Malan off part-time spinner Glenn Phillips. Tim Southee (1/24) dismissed Malan just as he was about to cut loose in the 16th over. After Malan’s departure, the onus was on Moeen to propel England and the all-rounder did his job with lusty hits.

BRIEF SCORES: England 166/4 in 20 overs (Moeen 51*, Malan 41, T Southee 1/24) lost to New Zealand 167/5 in 19 overs (D Mitchell 72*, D Conway 46, J Neesham 27)