Two-time champions England registered a hard-fought four-wicket victory over New Zealand in a crucial Super Eights clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner’s decision to bat first backfired as they were able to muster 159/7 in their allotted 20 overs against a high-spin England bowling attack.
Middle-order batter Glenn Phillips remained New Zealand’s top scorer with a 28-ball 39, followed by openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, who made 35 and 29 respectively.
For England, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed took two wickets each, while Liam Dawson contributed one.
In turn, England chased down the 160-run target for the loss of six wickets and three balls to spare, thanks to an unbeaten 44-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Jacks and Rehan.
Jacks made an unbeaten 32 off just 18 deliveries, smashing four fours and a six, while Rehan scored 19 not out from seven balls with the help of two sixes and a four.
Rachin Ravindra was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers, taking three wickets for just 19 runs in his four overs, while Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Phillips could claim one each.
England’s victory put New Zealand’s semi-final qualification hopes on hold, besides keeping Pakistan in contention, who next face co-hosts Sri Lanka in the final match of the Group 2 Super Eights of the 2026 T20 World Cup in Kandy on Saturday.
Pakistan, placed third in the Group 2 table with one point from two matches, now need to beat Sri Lanka by around 65 runs or chase down the target in 13.1 overs to better New Zealand’s net runs rate of 1.390.
However, the Green Shirts’ net run rate is currently negative 0.461, and if they fail to beat Sri Lanka by a substantial margin, New Zealand would join England in qualifying for the Group 2 semi-finals.
