New Zealand reached the Twenty20 World Cup final with a five-wicket victory over England in the first semi-final in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Daryl Mitchell smashed an unbeaten 72 and Jimmy Neesham provided the late assault as New Zealand chased down their 167-run victory target with one over to spare.
Earlier, Moeen Ali struck 51 not out and Dawid Malan made 41 to help former champions England post 166-4 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Put into bat, England were 67-2 at the halfway stage of their innings and reached the 100-mark in 14 overs, kept in check by New Zealand`s tight bowling and sharp fielding.
Moeen smashed two sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 37-ball knock.
Pakistan face Australia in the second semi-final on Thursday.
As soon as NZ registered their come-from-behind win, twitterverse could not believe what had just happened and there were some really good reactions to the win.
Most New Zealand fans saw the win as a sweet revenge against England.
It was in 2019 ODI World Cup when New Zealand lost the trophy to England via the boundary count rule. It was a controversial end to an epic final.
Many NZ fans belived the Black Caps deserved the win that day. However, as per the rules, England were declared winners.
On Wednesday, NZ managed to get back at England in the T20 World Cup and knocked them out of competition.
Here are some chosen tweets:
England right now pic.twitter.com/nUheu4j5Iv
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 10, 2021
NZ is that kid in class that says ‘bro I haven’t studied at all for this exam’ and then goes on to be one of the toppers _ #ENGvNZ #T20WorldCup
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) November 10, 2021
New Zealand has 0 super star player and 11 solid team players. Well done #NewZealand
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) November 10, 2021
Lord’s has been overcome. Daryl Mitchell! And Jimmy Neesham. This was worth being here for. What a team this @BLACKCAPS is.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 10, 2021
Har team ne apna inteqaam le liya hai is world cup main.
— Roha Nadeem (@RohaNadym) November 10, 2021
Well played to New Zealand,,,,,,,,,,,again.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) November 10, 2021
‘Absolute ecstasy for New Zealand. Agony, agony for England’
— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) November 10, 2021
All three format finals in this cycle for the @BLACKCAPS
— Tareque Laskar (@tarequelaskar) November 10, 2021
2019 ODI World Cup defeat avenged.#ENGvNZ #T20WorldCup
— Tohid Qureshi (@tohidivity) November 10, 2021
New Zealand need 57 from 24 balls. They get home with an over to spare. Wow!
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) November 10, 2021
NZ gets their sweet revenge _#T20WorldCup #ENGvNZ
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) November 10, 2021
Wow. Tremendous from Kiwis. Game looked dead for them . Neesham set it up. Mitchell couldn’t time a boiled egg at the start ,found his mojo and blitzed the finish. I’m actually really really pleased for them.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) November 10, 2021
since 2015, new zealand have been in consecutive ODI world cup finals, won the world test championship and now are in a T20 world cup final….gun team! #NZvENG #T20WorldCup
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) November 10, 2021
Spectacular finisih by Mitchell! Got to his fifty,almost unnoticed let Nessham tee off and then finished off the chase in style! New Zealand again make an ICC tournament final, nothing but admiration for them. Hard on England, but the Kiwis were just a little better on the night.
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) November 10, 2021
That was a magnificent, fluctuating match. Before today, since start of Super 12s, teams chasing 160+ had won 1 lost 10.
NZ had never scored more than 60 in overs 16-20 to win a T20, and England hadn’t conceded more than 60 in death overs to lose.— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) November 10, 2021
Best game of the World Cup. Wow Daryll Mitchell. Jimmy Neesham the gamechanger. New Zealand simply sensational. Congratulations on reaching the finals NZ #ENGvsNZ
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) November 10, 2021
Must spare a thought for England too. Without Stokes and Archer in the tournament, lost Mills snd Roy before this match, played admirably. Set up a competitive score. Two poor overs cost them place in the final
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 10, 2021
850 days ago Jimmy Neesham tweeted this.
Today he’s smashed his team to another World Cup final.
Hard not to feel pleased for him. https://t.co/I8JZlfh7yn
— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) November 10, 2021
With inputs from Reuters
