England vs New Zealand Semifinal, T20 World Cup 2021: Man of The Match, Post Match Presentation, Highlights

Bengaluru, Nov. 11: New Zealand clinched a thrilling five-wicket win over England in the first semifinal of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.

Opener Daryl Mitchell's heroics and Jimmy Neesham's sizzling cameo saw New Zealand avenge their heartbreaking loss in the summit clash of the 2019 ODI World Cup against the same opponents. In the 2019 50-over World Cup, New Zealand fell to a heartbreaking loss to England as they finished second best on the basis of boundary count.

Player of the match Mitchell blazed an unbeaten 47-ball 72, while Neesham smashed 27 in just 11 deliveries. In between, Devon Conway made an invaluable 46 off 38 balls as New Zealand chased down a target of 167 with six balls to spare. Needing 57 off 24 balls, Neesham carted Chris Jordan for two sixes and a four for a total of 23 runs.

The big over brought the equation down to 34 from 18 balls for New Zealand. Neesham and Daryl Mitchell then smashed a six each but the former ended up hitting Adil Rashid straight to Eoin Morgan in the covers in the 18th over. However, Mitchell pulverised Chris Woakes for two more sixes and a four to finish the job with an over to spare, something that seemed impossible a few moments ago.

Earlier, after being sent into bat, pre-tournament favourites England posted 166 for four riding on an unbeaten knock from Moeen Ali (51 not out) and some useful contributions from Dawid Malan (42), Jos Buttler (29) and Liam Livingstone (17).

Kane Williamson-led New Zealand, who have entered their third World Cup final in four attempts, will now take on the winner of the Australia vs Pakistan semifinal, in the final of the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

Post-match presentation highlights:

Player of the Match: Daryl Mitchell (unbeaten 72 off 47)

Winning Captain: Kane Williamson: We've played each other on a number of occasions, knew it would be a great game of cricket, and really chuffed with the heart that was shown throughout that performance. Outstanding from Mitchell at the top, but cashing in on the match-ups [was crucial]. His character stood out today, an incredible knock, not done it a lot at the top of the order. T20 cricket is a game of small margins, depending on the surface, short side... can all be match-defining. We had wickets in hand which was really important. Neesham came out and hit the ball hard, and changed the momentum of the game. Ultimately the deciding factor.

Losing Captain: Eoin Morgan: Full credit to Kane and his team, they outplayed us today, I can't fault anything that we've done tonight, we've fought hard and represented ourselves well, but come up short tonight. Incredibly proud of the guys. Hard to identify the key moments, they built up until they had to push the button, then came good. He held them at bay up to that point. It was a sluggish pitch and we struggled to hit sixes, a good indication it was two-paced. We posted a par score and felt in the game at the halfway side. To have the ability to hit sixes from ball one like (Neesham), full credit to him. I hope to be back, I am still offering enough, and I love playing in this changing room. Incredibly proud to be their leader.

Daryl Mitchell: A bit of a whirlwind! Nice to get the job done and move onto the big dance. Challenging, especially at the start. The way Devon Conway batted through the middle, and Neesh, really helped us. It's a game of momentum, we knew we needed one or two big overs, and the way he struck the ball from ball one... With what's going on in the world, for my dad to travel half way round the world and be here is pretty cool!