New Zealand crash out after Roy, bowlers propel England to the final

England 159-3 (Roy 78) beat
New Zealand 153-8 (Munro 46) by seven wickets
First Semi-Final, ICC World Twenty20, Delhi
Scorecard

Jason Roy scored a belligerent knock of 78 runs as England chased down 154 against New Zealand with ease in the 18th over with seven wickets in hand to reach the final of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament for the second time.

This defeat for New Zealand is their first in the tournament and it also means that the hunt for their maiden World T20 trophy continues. 

This defeat for New Zealand is their first in the tournament and it also means that the hunt for their maiden World T20 trophy continues.

England won the toss and opted to field first. Martin Guptill (15) started off with three boundaries in the first two overs but was caught behind off David Willey (1-17) in the third.

Adil Rashid (0-33) dropped Kane Williamson (32) in the fourth over while Colin Munro (46) hit three boundaries in the sixth over to push New Zealand to 51 for one after the powerplay.

The pair added 74 runs for the second wicket, scoring at almost nine runs per over as New Zealand reached 89 for one at the halfway mark.

Moeen Ali (1-10) got Williamson to top edge a delivery and took a return catch at mid-off. A couple of overs later, Munro holed out to third man off Liam Plunkett (1-38) as New Zealand reached 121 for three after 15 overs.

Things went south quickly for the Black Caps as they lost Ross Taylor (6), Luke Ronchi (3) and Corey Anderson (28) in the space of eight balls and this collapse took the momentum out of the New Zealand’s innings.

Stokes (3-26) accounted for two wickets in the final over and conceded just three runs as New Zealand squandered a fine start to be reduced to 153 for eight in 20 overs.

In the chase, England got off to a flying start as Roy (78) took Anderson (0-16) apart for four boundaries in the very first over and followed it up with two boundaries and a six in the next three overs.

Alex Hales (20) also smacked a four and a six while Roy struck three more boundaries to take England to 67 for naught by the end of the powerplay.

After completing a 26-ball maiden T20I fifty, Roy continued to take the bowlers apart while New Zealand pulled things back ever so slightly with the wicket of Hales, who fell in the ninth over.

After a few tight overs, Ish Sodhi (2-42) gave a glimmer of hope for New Zealand by castling Roy and trapping Eoin Morgan (0) lbw in consecutive deliveries of the 13th over.

By sticking to good line and lengths, New Zealand slowly mounted pressure on England.

After facing a couple of right overs from New Zealand, Jos Buttler (32 not out) struck three fours and three sixes and with excellent support from Joe Root (27 not out), England stormed into the final of the 2016 ICC World T20 with seven wickets in hand and 17 balls to spare.

Roy was the man of the match for his 44-ball innings. England will now face the winner of the second semi-final on 3rd April at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

© Cricket World 2016