What a knock! Seriously, last night the way New Zealand played it surely proved they deserve one world cup trophy. The first finalist of the T20 World Cup 2021 “New Zealand” has beaten one of the toughest competitors of the tournament England by five wickets.
No one expected such a marvelous performance by the Kiwis, they took the advantage of the pitch and Daryl Mitchell is the one who made this happen.
It was the nail-biting match where England was almost through, it looked like English men have done and will head to the finals.
But in the last few overs’ matches turned upside down, Mitchell made it possible for his side and reach to the final stage.
New Zealand knocked out England to be in the finals
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first. Kiwis knew that England’s strongest batsman Jason Roy got injured and unable to play. England had a great start but the openers couldn’t keep up the long partnership so did the middle order.
Moeen Ali scored 51 and Dawid Malan’s 40 runs score gave England hope to set the target for New Zealand. 167 runs target English men set for the kiwis and that’s something not easy to achieve unless you get a brilliant start.
But Kiwi’s start wasn’t up to the mark. With only four deliveries, Chris Woakes was able to send Martin Guptill to the pavilion. Even the skipper Kane Williamson also couldn’t score that much and got out with 5 runs in his bag.
Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway took their side towards the hope of victory. No one imagined that New Zealand would knock them over with boundaries because the way Mitchell and Conway made the scoreboard near the target looked easy.
In the last four overs, Mitchell and Neesham brilliantly performed and managed to hit every ball out of the park.
Mitchell didn’t miss the opportunity when Chris Woakes came to ball in the second last over he finished the innings in style.
It looks like the whole tournament was about revenge, first Pakistan took acts of revenge and New Zealand.
New Zealand took out their frustration at what happened at the World Cup 2019 final during super over in this semi-final.
‘We’ve played each other several times’ – Kane Williamson
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson expressed his feelings on the victory and praised England as well. “I think one of the strengths of the England side is their depth that they’ve managed to produce over some time,” he said.
“Having spent some time at the Birmingham Phoenix and being a little bit involved in the Hundred, you can tell that there’s a huge amount of talent. They’re still very much a strong side who have been playing some really good cricket.”
“We’ve played each other several times. We’ve had some really good games in really good series,” he added.
He concluded, “This format is fickle and both teams will look to put their best foot forward and what will be will be at the end of it.
We’ve been ticking over reasonably nicely and watching from afar England has been doing something very similar, so it should be a really good contest.”
‘Our side were devasted’- Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan England cricket team captain took out his frustration for not being the best side in the semi-final. “We’ve played against Jimmy a lot and he’s not struck the ball like that against us ever,”
Morgan said. “Everything worked right up until the point he came in. It’s a fantastic cameo in high-pressure circumstances when his team needed it.
“We’re devastated. To be on the wrong side of a close game is not easy to take. We fought unbelievably well on a wicket that didn’t necessarily suit our batting and we were brilliant with the ball.
“We were right in the game until Jimmy came to the wicket, if not ahead of the game.”
“The hitting ability within our squad is quite strong and that the guys didn’t feel like they could clear the ropes due to the nature of the pitch was a good indication that it wasn’t coming on to the bat that well,” Morgan said.
“I think that continued throughout the Black Caps’ innings until Jimmy came to the crease. He was probably the only guy that came out and showed the ability to strike the ball cleanly from ball one.”
But now who will join New Zealand, Pakistan, or Australia? They both will battle tonight and Pakistan needs to stay unbeaten to keep the streak in this tournament.
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