World Cup 2019: Twitter reacts as England advances to World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1992

When New Zealand took on England today at Riverside Ground, both sides had set their sights on the 'Q mark'. Pakistan was the other team who were closely following the action at Chester-le-Street. With a 119-run victory, England are through to the semi-finals. New Zealand, on the other hand, have a pretty healthy net run rate and can afford to relax and start making their semi-final plans.

Chasing a big target of 306, New Zealand got off to a disastrous start. Both Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls were sent packing within the 6th over, and England were already in the driver’s seat. Since then, every batsman got a start but failed to capitalize.

Once half of the squad was out and Tom Latham decided to stop pursuing a victory and put as many runs on the board as he can. His 65-ball 57 helped New Zealand cross the 150-run mark. Once he was dismissed, every batter comprising New Zealand’s tail contributed some runs to reduce the margin of defeat, and also maintain a healthy strike rate.

England’s start was the very opposite end of the spectrum. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow carried on their good run of form and put up a 123-run opening partnership. At that stage, 350 was looking like a cakewalk. But Trent Boult used his vast experience to bring the Kiwis back into the game.

English skipper Eoin Morgan carried the innings forward single-handedly but eventually threw his wicket away in the 47th over of the game. Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett’s late fireworks helped England cross the 300-run mark.

For the second time in a row, Jonny Bairstow was England’s star of the match. England’s last two league stage matches were equivalent to a pre-quarter-final and quarter-final, and they needed someone to step up and book a semi-final seat for them. Bairstow did just that with his second consecutive hundred. The 29-year-old from Yorkshire scored 106 runs in just 99 balls, hitting 15 fours in the process.

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