Xtra Time Web Desk: New Zealand opener Daryl Mitchell played the knock of his life (72* off 47) as BlackCaps won a thriller against England by 5 wickets to cruise into the final of the T20 World Cup at Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Kane Williamson’s team avenged their 2019 World Cup final loss against the same opponent. New Zealand will now play winner of Pakistan and Australia in the final on Sunday.
The first semi final of the ongoing T20 World Cup was an absolute thriller with plenty of twists but in the end, it was the effort of Mitchell and Neesham that saw the BlackCaps romp home with an over to spare.
Neesham smashed three sixes towards the end, tilting the fate of the match in their favour. The all-rounder was caught for 27 from 11 balls in the 18th over with New Zealand still needing 20 from 12 balls. Mitchell hit Chris Woakes for two sixes to guide his team to the final.
Put into bat England posted a good total of 166/4 on the back of Moeen Ali’s fifty and Dawid Malan’s 46. England were forced to make a change in their opening order with Bairstow being promoted in place of injured Jason Roy. Buttler and Bairstow added 37 runs for the first wicket before Adam Milne removed Bairstow in the sixth over. Ish Sodhi gave his side a crucial breakthrough, getting rid off the in form Buttler to see England reach 67/2 after 10 overs.
Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali then added 63 runs for the third wicket before Tim Southee removed dangerous-looking Dawid Malan on 42 in the 16th over. In the final three overs, England added 36 runs to end on 166/4 with Moeen remaining unbeaten on fifty.
Chasing 167 runs to win, New Zealand had a shaky start losing Martin Guptill and Captain Kane Williamson inside the first three overs. But Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell played sensibly to add a valuable 82 runs for the third wicket to give their side a perfect launch pad towards the end as they required 109 runs from the final 10 overs.
Liam Livingstone had a double strike, removing Conway (46) and Glenn Philip s (2) with BlackCaps still needing 72 runs off 38 balls. The 17th over bowled by Chris Jordan yielded 23 runs to see another turnaround in the match.
With 20 needed off 12 balls, Adil Rashid sent Neesham (27) back to the pavilion. Daryl Mitchell ensured there is no further hiccups as he guided his team to a five-wicket victory, hitting back-to-back sixes off Chris Woakes’ over.