Pallekele: England kept their chances of qualifying for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup afloat after they beat New Zealand in their second T20 match here today.
England rode on Luke Wright’s 76 and Steven Finn’s 3-16 to register a comfortable four wickets over the Kiwis. New Zealand who now have to losses from as many games will be knocked out of the tournament is West Indies get better of hosts Sri Lanka later tonight.
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Brief score:
England 149 for 4 (Wright 76) beat New Zealand 148 for 6 (Franklin 50, Finn 3-16) by six wickets
Match facts:
Toss: New Zealand, chose to bat
New Zealand:
Powerplay: 39 runs, 2 wickets ( 0-6 overs)
4's: 11, 6's: 4
England:
Powerplay: 37 runs, 1 wicket ( 0-6 wickets)
4's: 10, 6's: 6
Man of the match: Luke Wright
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Chasing a target of 149, the defending champions reached the target with seven balls to spare.
England in pursuit of a moderate target made a shaky start and lost Craig Keiswetter for cheap. It looked the Black Caps will not make it that easy for England but then with the arrival of Luke Wright, the whole complexion of the game changed.
Wright who played a swashbuckling innings against Afghanistan in the group stages turned on the heat and struck five boundaries and as many sixes in his 43 balls innings.
Wright started off on a rather cautious note and was particularly harsh during the later stages of his innings. He was well supported by Eoin Morgan who scored 30 off 31 balls.
They both stitched a crucial 89 runs partnership for the third wicket.
Daniel Vettori was the best bowler for the Kiwis as he picked one wicket by giving away just 20 runs in his stipulated four overs.
Earlier batting first, New Zealand failed to get off the hook against English bowlers and a half century by James Franklin saw the crawl to 148.
Steven Finn was the wrecker in chief for England and struck at crucial times to upset Kiwis batting line-up.
By Indian Sports News Network
