Two-time champions England secured a hard-fought four-wicket win 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 could muster 159/7 in their allotted 20 overs against a spin-heavy English bowling attack.
Middle-order batsman Glenn Phillips remained the top scorer for New Zealand 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 got two wickets each, while Liam Dawson got one.
In return, England chased the target of 160 runs for the loss of six wickets with three balls to spare, thanks to a quickfire 44-run unbeaten 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 bowlers for New Zealand, taking three wickets for just 19 runs in his four overs, while Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Phillips could take one apiece.
England’s victory put New Zealand’s hopes of semi-final qualification on hold, besides keeping Pakistan in contention, who next face co-hosts Sri Lanka in the final Group 2 Super Eights match of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Kandy on Saturday.
Pakistan, placed third in Group 2 with a point from two matches, now need to beat Sri Lanka by around 65 runs or chase the target in 13.1 overs to better New Zealand’s net run 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 significant margin, New Zealand will join England in qualifying for the semi-finals from Group 2.
