adminBRISBANE. – England rode on fifties from Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, and a superb bowling effort by ex-Zimbabwe schoolboy Sam Curran, to register a clinical 20-run win over New Zealand in their Super 12 encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Gabba yesterday.
England scored 179/6 and restricted the Kiwis to 159/6.
The 24-year-old Curran stepped up with a brilliant spell once again.
Curran bowled two overs up front and as many overs at the death, and he was equally brilliant in both phases.
The left-arm pacer picked up the important wicket of Finn Allen inside the powerplay and then came back at the death to dismiss Glenn Phillips, who was threatening to take the game away from England. Curran ended his spell with brilliant figures of 4-0-26-2.
The middle-order batter rescued New Zealand with a brilliant century in the game against Sri Lanka and he looked all set to guide the Kiwis home in this contest against England as well.
After New Zealand lost two wickets early in their innings, Phillips walked in and stamped his authority with some brilliant shots.
He played the aggressor in his 91-run stand with Williamson and then batted until the 18th over to get the Kiwis as close to the target as possible.
But he perished finally for an excellent knock of 62 from 36 deliveries while attempting to clear the straight boundary off Curran’s bowling.
New Zealand didn’t get any impetus in their innings after his dismissal and fell short by 20 runs. – ICC
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter