England and New Zealand are locking horns in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Both teams won four and lost one match in the league phase and qualified for the semifinals after playing some high-quality cricket.
Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl first. New Zealand remained unchanged for this game while England made a forced change in their playing XI as injured Jason Roy made way for Sam Billings.
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England scored 166/4 in 20 overs to pose a stiff challenge in front of New Zealand.
Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell walked out to get the chase underway. Guptil began the proceedings with a boundary on the first ball. Chris Woakes, however, wasn’t intimidated by this and removed Guptill on the third ball of the innings. Kane Williamson walked out with responsibilities on his shoulders.
Williamson was kept quiet by England pacers. Woakes reaped the reward when Williamson went for a stylish scoop shot and ended up spooning the ball in the air. New Zealand were in tatters at 13/2 after three overs.
Watch the New Zealand wickets here;
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Earlier, Jonny Bairstow walked out to open the innings with Jos Buttler in Jason Roy’s absence. New Zealand came up with a good plan for Bairstow as Trent Boult and Tim Southee kept bowling the tight line and lengths against him. Buttler and Bairstow scored 37 runs for the opening wicket before the latter got out. Buttler also followed him after scoring 29 runs.
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Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan added 63 runs for the third wicket before Southee separated this dangerous duo. Liam Livingstone played some aggressive strokes but fell in the last over. Moeen Ali scored an unbeaten fifty to propel England’s total to 166/4 in 20 overs.
