COLOMBO:
Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks smashed 44 off 16 balls to take England to an exciting four-wicket T20 World Cup win in Colombo that denied New Zealand a assured place within the semi-finals however stored Pakistan’s slender hopes alive.
New Zealand would have joined England within the knockouts with a win of their closing Tremendous Eights match and so they scored 159-6 after opting to bat.
England misplaced wickets early and seemed like they’d be squeezed out at 117-6, needing 43 from the final three overs.
However Ahmed and Jacks took 22 off the 18th over from Glenn Phillips to show the match on its head.
Ahmed blasted 19 off seven balls in his first T20 World Cup match alongside Jacks, who made an unbeaten 32 off 18, to see England to 161-6 with three balls to spare.
England will transfer on to a semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday towards both India or the West Indies, who conflict on Sunday to determine the ultimate semi-final berth.
New Zealand now have to attend on the result of Saturday’s conflict between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Kandy to know if they’ve certified for a semi-final in Kolkata towards South Africa.
Pakistan have an inferior run fee so have to win by 65 runs or inside 13 overs to overhaul the Kiwis and deny them a spot within the closing 4. If Pakistan qualify then the semi-final could be performed in Colombo.
England used 5 spinners to bowl 16 of the 20 overs on a turning observe. The 2010 and 2022 champions had by no means bowled so many overs of spin earlier than in a T20 worldwide.
Jacks returned one of the best figures with 2-23, whereas Adil Rashid picked up 2-28 and is now England’s main wicket-taker within the event with 11.
Rashid was complemented by fellow wrist spinner Ahmed, who was known as up rather than Jamie Overton, and took a wicket together with his first ball earlier than ending with 2-28 from three overs.
Glenn Phillips high scored with 39 off 28 together with 4 fours and a six whereas opener Tim Seifert scored 35.
Liam Dawson (1-32) and Jacob Bethell (0-13) have been the opposite spinners employed by England.
