T20 World Cup’22, ENG vs NZ: England 179 for 6 (Buttler 73, Hales 52, Ferguson 2-45) beat New Zealand 159 for 6 (Phillips 62, Curran 2-26) by 20 runs

Ten days into the Super 12s, England finally showed up at the T20 World Cup, where they defeated New Zealand in a crucial match at the Gabba. Unless there is a significant net run-rate swing, they should be able to advance if they win Saturday’s final group match against Sri Lanka.

On a worn surface, Jos Buttler batted first, scoring his first significant innings of the tournament with a superbly paced 73 off 47 balls after two rests to set England’s 179-run total. On the night he won his 100th cap, he became England’s leading scorer in men’s T20Is.

With a victory, New Zealand would have advanced to the knockout stages and appeared well-positioned. They were 119 for 2 after 14.4 overs, and Glenn Phillips, continuing where he left off against Sri Lanka, dominated a 91-run partnership with Kane Williamson, who was slow to score runs.

However, in contrast to the semi-final of the previous year in Abu Dhabi, which loomed large over the game on Tuesday night in Brisbane, England was able to strike frequently toward the end: Mark Wood rushed James Neesham, Ben Stokes got rid of Williamson, and Sam Curran played a great last-minute spell to seal the victory.

While Australia’s title defence is in jeopardy on home turf, New Zealand’s net run rate is high enough that they will almost certainly advance to the semi finals if they defeat Ireland by any means in their final group game: They must either defeat Afghanistan and hope England does not defeat Sri Lanka in Sydney, or they must defeat Afghanistan in order to ensure that they surpass England on NRR.

HIGHLIGHTS

Buttler sets England up

England, under Eoin Morgan, was a team that chased: In his five and a half years as captain, he never chose to bat first in a T20I. Under Buttler, things have changed: Since the beginning of July, they have posted at least 175 in seven out of eight completed games when batting first.

Alex Hales took charge in the second half of the powerplay after a relatively quiet start and defeated Trent Boult and Tim Southee’s new-ball bursts. He scored 37 runs off 25 balls as England scored 48 runs in six innings. He struck two boundaries through the off side after hitting the first ball of the fifth over straight back over Southee’s head for six.

Williamson thought he had made a big catch when he dived low to his left to catch Mitchell Santner’s miss in the final power play over and scored Buttler for 8. However, replays showed that the ball had gone through his hands and hit the ground before he got it at the second attempt.

“I knew I’d bobbled it and thought I’d squeezed it into my chest… a little bit embarrassing in the end.”

He apologised, and said afterwards

On a worn surface that provided plenty of opportunities for Santner and Ish Sodhi, who combined to score 2 for 48 in eight overs, England struggled against spin through the middle.After scoring a half-century off 39 balls, Hales was caught charging Santner, and Buttler was caught again on 40 when Daryl Mitchell missed a straightforward chance off Lockie Ferguson.

England scrape past par

Moeen Ali was elevated to No. 1 as England changed their batting order.3 with the authority to destroy spin and Dawid Malan falling as low as No.8. Moeen holed out to long-on before Buttler arrived at a 35-ball fifty, while Liam Livingstone’s splendid appearance was finished by a splendid Ferguson yorker as he endeavoured consecutive scoops.

With regular wickets, New Zealand dragged the game back: Buttler was run out, Stokes was pinned lbw by Ferguson, and Harry Brook was caught at long-on trying to hit back-to-back sixes. However, England’s lower middle order kept swinging and scrambled up to 179, which appeared to be just above par.

Phillips on fire

Devon Conway nearly fell when he dragged his back foot behind the crease just before Buttler whipped the bails off after Moeen beat him on the outside edge as Buttler threw Moeen the new ball. When Conway did fall, Buttler was crucial to the wicket by flinging himself low to his right as he attempted a paddle-scoop off Chris Woakes.

New Zealand were 28 for 2 and struggling after five overs when Finn Allen fell to Curran’s short ball and hit Stokes on the rope. However, Phillips got going quickly. He got off to a shaky start, inside-edging a Wood thunderbolt that was 96 miles per hour/155 kilometres per hour—the fastest ball of the World Cup thus far—past his leg stump before surviving thanks to an unfathomable drop from Moeen.

Phillips skewed a leading edge in front of Adil Rashid and sent it straight to Moeen at cover, who appeared to lose focus or forget the ball in the lights. He couldn’t even handle a simple chance, and when Phillips hit three sixes over the short midwicket boundary in quick succession, one off Wood and two off Rashid, it looked like it would cost him.

Clutch Curran

The ball was steered to Rashid at short third, and Buttler recognized an opportunity after Stokes, who had injured his left index finger while taking the catch to dismiss Allen, removed Williamson in his one and only over. As a result of Neesham’s erroneous pull, he brought Wood back for the 16th over, which Curran settled under at deep midwicket and roared as he turned to the crowd.

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Woakes, whose 19th over cost England 20 runs in the 2021 semi-final, struck at the end as England closed in, catching Daryl Mitchell at long-on off a slower ball by Chris Jordan, who had replaced Livingstone as a fielder. Curran then took out Phillips to end the game as a contest, again caught by Jordan, and finished it off with yorkers, bouncers, and slower balls at the end.