A calculated New Zealand on Wednesday defeated Eoin Morgan’s England in the first semifinal of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 by five wickets to qualify for the summit clash. Interestingly, England bowlers dominated the game for the better part of New Zealand innings but eventually fell back.
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New Zealand seemed satisfied biding their time as they waited for the opportune moment to start attacking. And they did just that in the 17th over of the chase, bowled by Chris Jordan which proved to be the turning point of the night.
Sri Lanka batting legend Mahela Jayawardene says that Jordan made a tactical blunder by going round the wicket against New Zealand batters and England paid price for it by bowing out of the tournament.
Jayawardene, however, also acknowledged that England were 10-20 runs short.
Heaping praise on the Kiwis, the Sri Lankan said that they batted ‘deeper’ and put English bowlers under pressure.
“Jordan bowled to Jimmy Neesham’s arc. That’s probably where England went wrong and handed over that momentum to New Zealand,” Jayawardene told ESPNcricinfo.
New Zealand needed 57 runs off 24 balls when Jordan walked in to bowl the 17th over. Jordan, who is known for his death bowling prowess, decided to bowl round the stumps to Neesham.
By doing that, the Englishman allowed Neesham to swing his arm freely as he collected 22 runs off the first four balls of the over by smashing three sixes and one four. ended up conceding 23 runs.
New Zealand wiped off the deficit quite comfortably with a flurry of boundaries to enter their maiden T20 world cup final.
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