Abu Dhabi: Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan played knocks of 51 and 42 respectively as England scored 166/4 against New Zealand in the first semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup here at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Asked to bat first, England got off to a steady start as openers Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow put on 37 runs inside the five overs. However, the introduction of Adam Milne into the attack paid off straight away as he dismissed Bairstow (13) on the first ball of the sixth over, ending the first-wicket partnership.
While trying to play a reverse sweep, Buttler (29) ended up missing a straight delivery bowled by Ish Sodhi, and he was caught right plumb in front, and as a result, England was reduced to 53/2 in the 9th over. At the halfway mark, England’s score read 67/2 with Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali at the crease.
Malan and Ali kept on scoring runs at a brisk pace and the duo managed to add 43 more runs in the next five overs, taking the score to 110/2 at the 15 overs mark, setting a perfect launchpad for the rest of the batting lineup. The 63-run stand for the third wicket finally came to an end in the 16th over as Tim Southee got the better of Malan (42).
In the final three overs, England managed to add 36 more runs, taking their total past the 160-run mark. Liam Livingstone also played a crucial cameo of 17 runs off just 10 balls helping Eoin Morgan’s side post a competitive total on the board.
Brief Scores: England 166/4 (Moeen Ali 51*, Dawid Malan 42; Adam Milne 1-31) vs New Zealand.