Jos Buttler set the standard with the bat; as England inflicted the first loss for table toppers New Zealand. Due to an impressive bowling performance from Chris Woakes and Sam Curran, which backed up a dominant display with the bat in Brisbane. England hadn’t had the best tournament start after a shock loss to Ireland with the help of DLS and the points shared with Australia after a wash out in Brisbane; meaning yesterdays game against New Zealand was a must win in the 2022 T20 world cup.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the win a must; Buttler showed off exactly why he leads the line for England smashing 73; however it was his opening partner Alex Hales that got England off to a flyer with 52 off 40 before a bit of Mitchell Santner magic sent him packing to the Pavilion. With Moeen Ali failing; Liam Livingstone chipped in with a quick 20 but his stumps were left scattered after a failed scoop attempt. Harry Brook and Ben Stokes visited the crease but with little impact to England’s end total.
New Zealand couldn’t of been happy with their bowling performance as Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Loki Ferguson all went for more than 40 runs each; while only picking up 3 english wickets between them.
Embed from Getty ImagesWoakes and Curran starred with the ball as their opening spell disabled New Zealand’s momentum as they tried to chase down 180. A stand of 91 between Kane Williamson and Glenn Philips provided a little hope for the Black Caps but their old nemesis Stokes struck again dismissing Williamson in the fifteenth over leaving Woakes and Curran free to dry up the runs and cruise to a 20 run victory which leaves England second in Group one and behind the Black caps on net run rate.
England now fight to reach the semi-finals and Sri Lanka are their next opponents; another must win with the likes of Australia and Ireland sitting on the same points just below on Net run rate.
