England’s Will Jacks, left, and Rehan Ahmed (Photo: AP) England pulled off a thrilling four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the T20 World Cup Super Eights thanks to brilliant late performances from Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed. The win keeps Pakistan’s semi-final hopes alive while England finish top of Group 2 with three wins from three matches.
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England pulled off a thrilling four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the T20 World Cup Super Eights thanks to some brilliant late display from Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed. The win kept Pakistan’s semi-final hopes alive while England topped Group 2 with three wins from three matches. New Zealand batted first and posted 159 for seven in 20 overs. Their batsmen got off to a good start but failed to convert it into big scores. Glenn Phillips scored 39, Tim Seifert 35 and Finn Allen added 29. England’s spinners played a key role in controlling the innings, with Jacks, Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed taking two wickets each to slow down the scoring in the middle overs. England’s chase got off to a poor start as they lost the first two wickets and were struggling at 58 for four. Harry Brook tried to steady the innings but New Zealand attacked at regular intervals. Tom Banton and Sam Curran added valuable runs but England slumped to 117 for six in 17 overs, still needing 43 runs from 18 balls. By this stage, New Zealand appeared to be firmly in control. However, Jacks and Rehan had other plans. They attacked Glenn Phillips in the 18th over, smashing 22 runs to push the pace. The duo then piled on 16 runs against Mitchell Santner in the next over, guiding England to victory. High on confidence, they calmly guided the team home with three balls to spare. Before that, there was a brief moment of drama when Seifert was wrongly extradited, only for the TV replays to overturn the decision. In the end, England held their nerve to complete a thrilling comeback victory.
