Rehan Ahmed starred with bat and ball in his T20 World Cup debut as England secured their spot at the top of the pool with a four-wicket win over New Zealand, forcing their opponents into the semi-finals.
Leg-spinner all-rounder Ahmed blasted 19 not out off seven balls (32 no off 18 balls) in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 44 off 16 balls with Will Jacks after England had earlier restricted the Black Caps to 159-7, making it 2-28 before Harry Brook’s side headed home with three balls to spare in the Colombo thriller.
The batsmen were 117-6 with three overs left, but after that, Ahmed and the ever-contributing Jacks hit No. 18 of Glenn Phillips for 22 and became favorites for the championship.
England had already advanced to the knockout stages with wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but despite Jos Buttler’s two-ball duck and his fifth successive single-digit score, England’s woes continued.
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Harry Brook destroyed the LED screen with this huge six against New Zealand.
Skipper Brook followed up on his 50-ball 100 against Pakistan last time out with a knock of 26 off 24 balls, including a brilliantly nonchalant flick off the leg side of Matt Henry that cracked the LED screen for a six, holed out from Phillips, who removed Jacob Bethell (21) with a brilliant diving catch.
Earlier, Ahmed took a wicket with his first ball, while fellow tweakers Jacks (2-23) and Adil Rashid (2-28) also struck twice.
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Rehan Ahmed took his first shot in the T20 World Cup, picking up the wicket of Rachin Ravindra.
England will play the second semi-final match in Mumbai next Thursday, where they are likely to face either India or the West Indies.
Unless Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by such a large margin that their net run rate was significantly higher than the Black Caps’ in Palekele on Saturday, New Zealand will face them in the first semi-final on Tuesday.
We’ll probably hear the Kiwi national anthem in Kolkata next week. It was played at breakneck speed ahead of the match against England and was much appreciated.
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New Zealand players wearing stitches sang the national anthem at the wrong speed.
England march in T20 World Cup
The innings didn’t start out too enthusiastically, with Jofra Archer scoring his first run in the first over and Tim Seifert (35 off 25) catching up and brilliantly overturning his dismissal.
Seifert and opening partner Finn Allen (No. 29 off 2019) immediately picked up the pace, posting a seven-over inside 64, with Seifert scoring his third consecutive score from Archer in fifth.
But then Seifert was tripped by Rashid and Allen was meekly caught at midwicket five balls later from Jacks before Rachin Ravindra, 21, smashed Ahmed into the deep.
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Will Jacks picks up the wicket of Glenn Phillips in the T20 World Cup!
The muscular Phillips (36 off 29) added momentum in the middle overs before being cleaned up by a sharply curved ball from Jacks, and England spun 16 overs around Archer’s three-over pace, with left-arm seamer Sam Curran clinching a solitary set.
One of the spinovers was by Bethel, who was bowling for the first time in the tournament after recovering from a finger amputation.
England suffered from a shaky top order and Phil Salt (2) was out in the first over for the second successive match, catching up with Henry, but Buttler was dismissed in the second over and Lockie Ferguson’s quick delivery sent him down the pitch, putting them at a disadvantage.
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Jos Buttler’s dismal performance in this T20 World Cup has seen him dip to his lowest two-ball duck.
This is the shot of a man lacking confidence and Buttler’s form is a major concern for England ahead of the knockout stages.
It seems unlikely that they will remove the greatest white-ball hitter of all time, but there is an option for Ben Duckett to come in, but perhaps they might consider moving him down the order to get out of this funk.
Ahmed made a convincing case to retain his position. He replaced Jamie Overton in Colombo’s rotating conditions and made a dazzling appearance in his batting cameo.
The Leicestershire all-rounder smashed the second ball off Phillips for a six and bookended Mitchell Santner’s 19th over with a boundary. Reverse sweep 4 and maximum over long-off brought the requirement down to the last five overs.
After Ahmed and Jacks exchanged singles from Henry, Player of the Match Jacks’ four goals led England to their fifth successive T20 international win.
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