T20 World Cup: Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks give England unlikely win over New Zealand

Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed starred as England defied a sluggish pitch to lay down a marker for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup following an unlikely four-wicket win over New Zealand.

Already guaranteed a top-two spot in their Super 8 group following wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Pallekele, England were staring defeat in the face as they required 42 runs from the last 17 balls.

On a Colombo surface where run-scoring was difficult, man of the moment Jacks and the recalled Rehan, both of whom took two wickets apiece in New Zealand’s 159 for seven, went in full-on attack mode with an astonishing unbroken 44-run stand in 16 deliveries.

The pair each took sixes in a Glenn Phillips over, which yielded 21, while New Zealand captain Mitch Santner leaked 16, before Jacks hit the winning runs off Matt Henry to get England home with three balls to spare.

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Player of the match

Jacks finished unbeaten on 32 from 18 balls and collected his fourth player of the match award of the tournament and Rehan, making his first World Cup appearance after replacing the rested Jamie Overton, was 19 not out off seven deliveries.

Barring an unlikely sequence of results, England will face either tournament co-hosts India or the West Indies in Mumbai next Thursday after finishing top of their group with three wins out of three.

Such an outcome seemed unlikely after England lost an important toss – five of the previous six matches here had been won by the side batting first – before they slipped to two for two in the chase.

Miserable form

Jos Buttler’s miserable form continued as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck after poking Lockie Ferguson to wicketkeeper Tim Seifert and he has now registered just 15 runs in his last five innings.

Harry Brook, continuing at number three after his brilliant century against Pakistan, looked set to flip the script with an extraordinary scoop for six into the digital scoreboard, which left a black mark.

But England’s white-ball captain holed out, targeting the boundary on the shorter side off Glenn Phillips, who produced a fantastic tumbling catch as Jacob Bethell holed out off Rachin Ravindra.

The slow left-armer also dismissed Tom Banton and Sam Curran, both of whom perished to catches in the deep after putting on 42 in 35 balls, which left England behind the required rate before Jacks and Rehan stole the show.

The charge

Rehan ignited the charge by depositing Phillips over long-on while Jacks took six-four-four off the spinner.

Rehan then walloped Santner for six before Jacks’ boundary off Henry secured a memorable England win.

New Zealand earlier had a two-tone innings as they raced to 54 without loss from the powerplay.

England had averaged three wickets in the first six overs in this tournament, but after Archer started with a maiden, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen got to grips with England’s talismanic paceman.

Turned the screw

But England’s last 14 overs were bowled by spin and they turned the screw. In total, England bowled 16 overs of spin, the most they have ever sent down in a T20.

Adil Rashid, as he so often does, applied the brakes.

After being clubbed by Seifert for New Zealand’s fifth six, Rashid’s flighted 44mph delivery did the Black Caps’ opener in the air and he was stumped.

Strangled

Allen limply flicked Jacks to deep midwicket in the next over, after which Phillips attempted to keep the pedal down.

However, he received precious little support as England strangled their opponents with their five spin options.

Rehan’s first delivery in a World Cup was miscued by Ravindra to Jacob Bethell in the deep, while Phillips was bowled through the gate by Jacks as New Zealand added just 105 in the final 14 overs.

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