England vs New Zealand highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: ENG beat NZ by 4-wickets in Colombo

That is a performance of the probable champions. What a performance England has given out of nowhere. They looked rusty, but this game today is a terrific result. New Zealand needed to win it; they had the right desire and experience of playing on that wicket, but England seemed to be picking it up here. While all the attention is on South Africa, India and the West Indies, England is making some serious statements. As per New Zealand, they have to wait and watch the Pakistan game against Sri Lanka. Pakistan has to win if they have to qualify, but the margin has to take them over the NRR of New Zealand. That is it from us for today, folks.

Rachin Ravindra has picked up four wickets in the previous game, and in this game he has already three. He has been quite superb, he kept bowling that line away from the batters depening on the longer dimension, and is slowing the pace through. It does seem like New Zealand are gone go through here.

This is another nice, handy partnership between Curran and Banton here. England has given a decent account of itself in this chase. Sri Lanka, on the other hand rasied the white flag quite early. But England are fighting and their game against spin seems to be lot more sorted compared to how it went in recent ICC tournaments.

Well, since our last update, Glenn Phillips has changed the momentum of this game. First, he picked up the wicket of Harry Brook, who tried to hit one over long-off boundary, ended up giving a catch to the fielder there, and then Bethell, who was going well, tried to hit one through mid-wicket, and Glenn Phillips came running in and took a brilliant catch diving forward.

Harry Brook has gotten a few boundaries away against the pace and has got this innings going. Jacob Bethell, who is at the other end, is also in a pretty good form, and if England has to get closer to the target, these two have to keep going after the bowling. As per New Zealand has introduced spin here.

Matt Henry has picked up the first wicket here. It was a pitched-up delivery on the good length region, which Salt drove and got the outside edge, and the keeper did the rest. New Zealand have started it the right way here. Lockie Ferguson has taken the new ball from the other end.

Well, Mitchell Santer finishes the innings with a six. That is a good score for New Zealand on that wicket. England has bowled 17 overs of spin, but the Kiwi batters were pretty smart as they approached the innings. Glenn Phillips has been the crucial player for New Zealand in the middle order, who played a nice anchoring innings of sorts. We will be right back with the chase. Do stay with us.

Daryll Mitchell has fallen here, and the wicket-taker was Liam Dawson. It was a tossed-up delivery which Mitchell tried to hit down the ground. Usually, with his power, he tends to clear the ropes pretty easily, but not on that occasion. Mitchell Santner is the new batter for New Zealand.

Rehan Ahmed came into the attack, and he picked up the wicket of his first delivery. It was a long-hop shot which Ravindra could have hit anywhere, but he got the top-edge and the ball went high in the air, and the catch was taken inside the ring. Mark Chapman is the new batter who has walked in.

New Zealand has lost two quick wickets here. First, it was Adil Rashid who tossed one up, which Seifert tried to play and got himself stumped, and then it was Finn Allen against Will Jacks, who chipped one straight to mid-wicket. It was a bit of a nothing shot from the Kiwi opener. Two new batters to bowl at for the English spinners here.

Well, strangely enough, here it is the pacer Archer that has bowled well, and Liam Dawson took a bit of tapping. We saw a similar pattern the other day, when Dunith Wellalage could not work out the pace for the wickets in the initial overs, but later did well, and Dawson here, too, is firing it a bit to start with.

New Zealand has bowled 17 overs of spin in their previous game against Sri Lanka, and it is the same surface. It was turning quite a bit that day, and today it might spin even more. England does not have a lot at stake but New Zealand has everything to play for and that might give New Zealand a slight edge but let's see how it goes in the middle.

Yeah, we would have batted as well if we won the toss. Obviously, we watched the game the other night and there was a bit of spin there, but we've spoken about adapting to conditions as much as possible, so it'll be a good challenging. (On playing this game with no pressure of qualification) I think they're an amazing side. If we can beat them and try and knock them out and put them under pressure, that'll be awesome for us. The main message is to go out there, play with freedom and look to take it to them. So, yeah, we're looking forward to tonight. And there's a couple of areas that presumably you'll want to see improvement on. (On the team's fielding and lack of solid opening partnerships) I think we've fielded amazing throughout the competition. There was a bit of misexecution last game, obviously, but the way the lads are attacking the ball and looking to put their batters under pressure as well, it's been awesome throughout the comp. Don't mind misexecution as long as the energy's there. (Asked if he will bat at No.3 again) Yeah, I think I'll be sticking at number three. Jamie Overton is out with Rehan Ahmed is in.

Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

"Even when a wicket went out, he was still at the crease, rotating the strike and building the partnership. I think we missed that opportunity."

(On having secured a semi-final berth) That's very nice. We've come here to do that job and thankfully we've got it under the line. (On whose decision was it to promote him to No. 3 and when was it made?) This morning by Baz as he was the mastermind behind it and it could have not come off, but thankfully tonight it has. We wanted to try and maximise the powerplay a little bit more and everybody knows that I like to try and take the game on and I was going to do that from ball one. So, thankfully it came off and I managed to get us a decent start. (Was it at the back of his mind to promote himself up the order) I'd been thinking about it for a while and it's something I want to do in my career moving forward anyway, not just for England and in franchise cricket. I want to get up there and try and face as many balls as possible. (On whether him having a terrific record against Pakistan influenced that promotion) Yeah, Baz said that this morning. He said, what do you think about going number three? Pakistan's your team and I was just like, let's do it. (On their fielding performance being a bit off today) We struggled a bit in the field. The atmosphere wasn’t quite like it was against Sri Lanka, and that was something we spoke about beforehand. We wanted to keep the intensity high regardless. Unfortunately, we misfielded a few, but the effort was there. (On getting wickets in the powerplay again and how important it has been) Massive. In T20 cricket, getting early wickets is crucial. Jofra Archer has been brilliant - I think he’s taken eight powerplay wickets now. He’s been doing that for years and it really puts the opposition on the back foot. (On having gotten hundreds across all formats) It’s always nice, but the main thing is winning the game. It got a bit nervy at the end there. I was joking with Baz, saying hopefully this isn’t another Oval situation (vs India). Thankfully, we got over the line and made the semis. (On the misfiring top order) That’s something for me, Baz and the selectors to discuss. I don’t think much will change, but you never know. The main focus is going out there with confidence and building momentum.

“I would say this is a failure to utilize the talent available. As a captain, I think Salman Agha and the 'think tank' sitting on the sidelines committed a tactical error. Otherwise, 164 was a defendable total under those conditions. With the way England was batting, we only needed one wicket—and that was the exact moment Usman Tariq should have come on to attack and grab that breakthrough," Hafeez added.

"No matter the problems we have, we have to go very positively as a team. It's very important to finish a World Cup well because it gives momentum for the next tournament," he said.

"I think fitness should be number one when playing for a country. That's unnegotiable," Shanaka said after the loss to New Zealand on Wednesday. He acknowledged that injuries to key players such as Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana made continuity difficult, while stressing that fitness standards must remain uniform across squad.

"I played all past five World Cups, except one World Cup, this was the topic that has been spoken in all the other World Cups-injuries, injuries, how do we do better in those?" reflected Shanaka.

"Like I said there’s singular good bowlers with great skills, like Ellis, but they need a partner to match them in their bowling unit. One gun isn’t enough. Jansen and Ngidi are my pick as the best.As for Ellis, top quality and fools plenty 👌," he noted.

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything to jump out the boat but we have to ensure that we play our better cricket now. We see a situation that we could face in the next couple of days, so we have to make sure we turn things around quickly and get a good result against India.”

"It was a wonderful innings from Harry Brook. I think everyone has spoken and written about that. There's no doubt he's a wonderful player. Obviously he scored 100 against us in New Zealand. So we're well aware of his quality. To be honest, where in the order he comes in is probably irrelevant. You've still got to bowl him whether it's in the first over or the 15th over. So, yeah, batting orders can be sort of overstated at times and I think whatever decision they make will be ready for him."

Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson/Jacob Duffy

Hello and welcome to our live blog of England taking on New Zealand. For New Zealand, if they have to go to the semifinals on their terms, they have to win this contest, and if they manage to lose, they will have to depend on Pakistan tomorrow on how they will have to go about their clash. Do stay with us to get all the live updates.