England muscled their way into the finals of the ICC World T20 after brushing aside New Zealand by 7 wickets in Delhi. Led by Jason Roy who smashed a 48-ball 77, England breezed into the finals and now await the winner of the match between India and West Indies.
New Zealand were put into bat and they came out swinging. Martin Guptill was in imperious touch once again as he got off to a rollicking start but his dismissal followed by Kane Williamson stalled the innings completely.
Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan were brilliant at the death overs and they pulled things back for England very well. The score was just about par and England sauntered to a win with 17 balls to spare. Jos Buttler provided the finishing touches with his lusty blows and did not let the twin strikes by Ish Sodhi have any bearing on the outcome of the match.
Here are the player ratings from the match:
New Zealand:
Martin Guptill- 2/10
Guptill has been in brilliant touch throughout the tournament and he once again started off like a train. He was brilliant square of the wicket but then his innings was cut short by David Willey when he backed away too far and ended up edging the ball. He has been a critical cog for New Zealand and his paltry contribution of 15 runs was never going to be enough.
Kane Williamson- 5/10
The Kiwi skipper has been the anchor right at the top and has played a sedate hand amidst all the stroke-makers. Today was no different and he was timing the ball beautifully but then an ungainly sweep off Moeen Ali led to his downfall at a very important time for New Zealand. His captaincy has won many accolades, but today he was a tad on the reactive side and inexplicably delayed bringing his spinners on.
Colin Munro- 6/10
The burly left-hander has had an iffy tournament so far and today he was determined to make it count. He settled in early and then brought out his audacious reverse hits and muscular blows through the leg side. However, his dismissal on 46 sucked the momentum out of the innings, when he skied a wide ball to Moeen Ali at third man of Liam Plunkett.
Corey Anderson- 3/10
Anderson too has been off colour this tournament and was important once Williamson was dismissed. He was quite sedate to begin with but barring a few hits never got going and eventually perished to a full toss off the bowling of Ben Stokes for a 23-ball 28. He also took the new ball but was smashed for 16 runs and England got off to a flier.
Ross Taylor- 1/10
Ross Taylor himself has admitted that he needs to step in for the retired Brendon McCullum, but today was a forgettable day for him, as he perished trying to flay a ball onto the off side of Chris Jordan. He scored a meager 6 runs.
Luke Ronchi- 0/10
Luke Ronchi has been battling with batting form for quite sometime now and today he was even handed a promotion to muster some quick runs. But Ronchi never arrived and he scored a skimpy 3 runs and was out to a full toss at waist height. He was relatively poor behind the stumps too and missed 2 stumpings at important stages.
Grant Elliott- 4/10
The 37-year old had a strange day in office as he could neither propel the score in his 6 ball stay nor could he grab any wickets with his variations. He was however tidy with his bowling and sharp in the field.
Mitchell Santner- 5/10
The left armer has been a find for New Zealand but he could not replicate his success against India here on the crunch day. He could just face 7 balls in his innings and was not penetrative enough with the ball. He did pick Alex Hales but then that was too little too late.
Mitchell McClenaghan- 2/10
The fiery left arm bowler was too short and was belted all over by the English batsman as he went for 24 runs off 3 overs without any wickets. He was not convincing with his changes on pace either.
Ish Sodhi- 7/10
The leg spinner was easily the pick of the bowlers from New Zealand. He flighted the ball and was able to extract turn from the surface. He breathed life into the match when he got Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan of consecutive balls. He however went for 22 runs in his final over that ruined his figures, but inspite of that he was the best performer.
Adam Milne- 1/10
The young quick has shown enough promise to be banked upon. He has kept both Trent Boult and Tim Southee out of the side, but today was a forgettable day for him. He tried to bounce the batsman but the ball kept sitting up and the English batsmen took full advantage of it. He finished with figures of 27 runs in 3 overs without a wicket.
England:
Jason Roy- 10/10
The smashing right hander from Surrey has been playing cameos right throughout this tournament. Today, however he was in belligerent batting form and sent the Kiwi bowlers ducking for cover. He teed off right from the first over looting 16 runs off Corey Anderson and never looked back. He lit up the stadium with his crisp drives and smashing cuts en-route his 44-ball 78 which included 11 fours and 2 maximums, and thus paved the way for England to saunter into the finals.
Alex Hales – 6/10
Alex Hales though was subdued but he rotated the strike well enough to put Roy on strike. He was sedate but then the duo forged an 82-run partnership for the first wicket to put England on course.
Joe Root- 6/10
Joe Root has been the fulcrum for English batting and today he made sure that he is there at the end. He regularly pinched singles and doubles and never let the innings to meander and was present there unbeaten with 27 runs at the end.
Eoin Morgan- 4/10
All these points are because of the captaincy which helped England pull things back after a flying start by New Zealand. Eoin Morgan the batsman has been quite cold and he was dismissed for a for a first ball duck by Ish Sodhi.
Morgan, however, was quite good with his bowling changes and field placements and he even took a brilliant catch to dismiss Ross Taylor.
Jos Buttler- 7/10
Buttler came in when Ish Sodhi was on a hat-trick after he got Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan of successive balls. He however, was not to be held back as he belted a 17-ball 32 which included 3 sixes at the back end to complete a convincing win for England.
He was quite neat behind the stumps too and held on to the catch presented by Martin Guptill.
Ben Stokes- 8/10
The feisty all-rounder has already made it clear that he wants pressure situations and he walked the talk today. He was brilliant at the death with his Yorkers and different variations. He accounted for Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner and Corey Anderson and was very frugal too. At the end of his quota he finished with figures of 3 wickets for 26 runs, and was also involved in the run-out of Mitchell McClenaghan.
Moeen Ali- 7/10
Moeen Ali bowled only 2 overs for 10 runs in which he took the important wicket of Kane Williamson who miscued a lofted slog. Moeen ran back to the edge of the circle at mid-off to complete the catch. And then extra points for his lovely beard.
Chris Jordan- 8/10
He has been a brilliant death over for England in the recent past and he showcased his worth during the tense match against Sri Lanka. He was once again pinpoint accurate with his Yorkers today and strangled New Zealand towards the back end of the innings to end with figures of 24 runs in 4 overs with 1 wicket to boot.
He is also an asset in the field and swallowed two catches of Corey Anderson and Mitchell Santner.
David Willey- 6/10
David Willey has swung the ball into the right handed batsmen all across this tournament but today he started poorly as he conceded 11 runs in his first over. He however came back strongly in his next and got Martin Guptill as he pushed a full ball across him. He did not bowl any further in the match.
Adil Rashid- 3/10
Adil Rashid had not quite lived up to the expectations. After the mauling in the previous match, Rashid could not cast any impression in this match as well. He bowled very flat and quick and was not able to extract any assistance from the pitch. Hence he gave away 33 runs off his 4 overs without any success.
Liam Plunkett- 6/10
Athough Plunkett was a touch expensive ( 4 overs for 38 runs), he picked up the important wicket oif Colin Munro who was threatening to take the match away from England. He also hustled the batman regularly with his sharp pace.
