England won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand. The openers gave the team a good start once again by putting up a 123-run first-wicket partnership. Bairstow scored his second consecutive century by making 106 off 99 balls with 15 fours and 1 six. Roy too continued his good form in the tournament by making 60 off 61.
James Neesham made the first breakthrough of the day by removing Jason Roy. Trent Boult came back into the attack and removed the in-form Joe Root and Jos Buttler in quick succession to slow down the England innings. Neesham then returned and took the wicket of Chris Woakes to reduce England to 259/6 in 44.5 overs after it looked set to make 350 at one stage.
Matt Henry had earlier in the day dismissed the centurion Jonny Bairstow. England captain Eoin Morgan was putting up a lone fight from one end. The skipper scored 42 off 40 with 5 fours and a number of doubles. Henry finally got the wicket of Morgan in the 47th over as England made 305 for 8 in its alloted 50 overs. Henry, Boult and Neesham finished with two wickets each.
New Zealand was reduced to 14 for 2 in 5.2 overs. Skipper Kane Williamson and the experienced Ross Taylor came together to steady the ship. But in the 16th over, Taylor punched a Mark Wood ball down the pitch and the bowler got the all-important touch as the ball hit the stump at the non-striker's end and Kane Williamson was well short of his crease. Unfortunately for the Kiwis, Taylor was also run-out in the very next over.
England was struggling at 69 for 4. Wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham took up the responsibility of recovering the innings and made his first 50-plus score of the tournament. He scored 57 off 65 with five fours. However, he was caught behind by Jos Buttler of the bowling of Liam Plunkett. At that moment, New Zealand was 164 for 7 in 38.3 overs and staring at a huge defeat at the hands of England.
New Zealand was all-out for 186 in 45 overs, as England qualified for the semis via a 119-run win. Mark Wood was the pick of the England bowlers on the day. He ended with figures of 3 for 34 in 9 overs. Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes picked up a wicket each. The Kiwis lost three consecutive World Cup games for the first time ever.
Comments
SHARE