T20 World Cup 2021: Semi-final 1, England vs New Zealand – Who Said What

New Zealand held their nerves admirably to make it a hat-trick of ICC event final entrances, trumping England in a see-sawing semi-final clash by 5 wickets in Abu Dhabi. You would feel they are too nice to believe in revenging anything, even if it is as bitter as the fateful 2019 ODI World Cup loss, so let’s put it this way: the scores are settled levelled. And in doing so, New Zealand have made it to the finals of a tournament no one counted them as the favourites of.

After being inserted, a Jason Roy-less England managed 166/4 largely on the back of Dawid Malan (41 off 30), who got back his mojo at the right time, and Moeen Ali (51 off 37), who proved it for the umpteenth time what a marvellous short-format asset he is.

The Buttler-Bairstow combination at the top did not fire parallel to the expectations, with Bairstow perishing for 13 inside the powerplay to Adam Milne thanks to a sensational Kane Williamson grab inside the ring, while Ish Sodhi trapped Buttler lbw for 29 when he missed connecting an adventurous reverse sweep.

There onwards, it was all about the brilliance of Moeen and Malan, who added 63 between them in good time before Tim Southee had Malan caught behind. Moeen, however, continued to march on alongside Liam Livingstone, whose 10-ball 17 helped England add 47 in the last four over to push the target past 160-mark.

While 167 would not have immediately looked daunting, the odds were still stacked against New Zealand: England had runs on the board; a target of such magnitude was never chased by New Zealand in men’s T20 World Cup; they lost Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson to Chris Woakes, and were 13/2 in 2.4 overs. And 58/2 by the 10th.

Guptill found mid-on in the opening over of their response, while Williamson played the most un-Williamson stroke – an attempted ramp – that went only as far as the man at short fine leg. Daryl Mitchell, who was witnessing what seemed like a start of hara-kiri, then rebuilt with Devon Conway, with the duo adding 82 off 67 to restore the belief in a dejected Kiwi camp.

Conway, however, having struck five fours and a six in his 38-ball stay, was stumped off Livingstone’s bowling four short of his half-century exactly when New Zealand needed to make a move on. The part-timer Livingstone came to the party soon again, removing Glenn Phillips cheaply to sway the momentum again. But Mitchell denied dropping the anchor, and New Zealand just found the release they needed in James Neesham’s 11-ball 27 blitz, with Chris Jordan bearing the brunt of his attack.

Neesham holed out Rashid to Morgan at covers after hitting him for a six, but by now, Mitchell, who stood unbeaten 72 off 47, was well into in his groove too: he smashed the early wrecker-in-chief Woakes for two sixes and a four in the penultimate over to surpass the target with an over to spare.

Losing skipper Eoin Morgan:

Coming into the game we knew both sides were close in skill. Full credit to Kane and his team. They outplayed us today. Have represented ourselves in this tournament really well. Proud of the guys. They have given everything in this tournament. Thought we were right in the game until probably the 17th, 18th overs. We had them exactly where we wanted them up until that point. It was (sluggish). We’re a six-hitting side but we struggled to hit sixes. But we hung in there and posted probably a par score. To come out and hit sixes from ball one like that – full credit to him (Neesham). Absolutely love playing cricket at the moment. At the forefront of change both on and off the field (the team).

Winning skipper Kane Williamson:

Most players have played together in various tournaments. Knew it was going to be a great game of cricket. Thought they had a pretty competitive total. But just by staying in there, building the partnerships and cashing in on some moments, some matchups. Definitely something that stood out today (Mitchell’s character). Has batted beautifully in a high pressure situation. T20 cricket – it’s a game of small margins. Depending on the surface, the short side – these things can be match-defining. He came out and hit the ball hard, that’s what he does (neesham). Changed the momentum really. Fantastic knock from Daryll, hit the big shots when it counted. We’ll be following that match – going to be fantastic. We know we have another challenge coming up and we’ll change our focus after tonight.

Player of the Match Daryl Mitchell:

It was a bit of a whirl at the end there. I couldn’t remember what was going on, but I’m happy I got the job done. It was a challenging surface, with the new ball, and it was two-paced. The way Conway set the platform and Neesh hit a few out of the ground was amazing. We knew one or two good overs would do it, and we got the momentum back thanks to Neesham’s hitting. With what’s going on around the world right now, it’s amazing that my old man travelled half way around the world to watch me play, so this is a proud moment.