Staff Reporter.
New Zealand ended England’s hopes at the Men’s T20 World Cup with a dramatic semi-final victory in Abu Dhabi.
The Black Caps were struggling in pursuit of 167 before Jimmy Neesham smashed three sixes to swing the game in his side’s favour.
He fell for 26 from 10 balls in the 18th over but, with 20 now needed from 12 balls, opener Daryl Mitchell took on the assault, hitting Chris Woakes for two sixes.
With England’s bowlers struggling at the death, Mitchell ended 72 not out from 47 balls as New Zealand won by five wickets with an over to spare.
It ends England’s quest to become the first team to hold both the 50 and 20-over World Cups at the same time.
New Zealand, beaten in incredible fashion when the same sides met in the 2019 World Cup, will face Australia or Pakistan in Sunday’s final.
England captain Eoin Morgan: “I can’t fault anything we’ve done tonight. We have fought unbelievably hard throughout this tournament. We’ve represented ourselves unbelievably well, but tonight we have come up short. I am extremely proud of the guys.
“It’s hard to identify key moments. We were right in the game from our innings right through to the 17th over.”
Player of the match Daryl Mitchell: “It was a bit of a whirlwind at the end. I can’t remember what was going on.
“We tried to hang in there as long as we could and knew that one or two big overs would bring us back into the game. We were lucky to get there in the end.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson: “They had a pretty competitive total at the halfway stage.
“It was an outstanding knock at the top from Daryl Mitchell but it was also about staying in there and cashing in on small match-ups. That was the difference.”