COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – Jacob Bethell played an important innings as England crushed New Zealand by four wickets to finish unbeaten in the Super Eights stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup here on Friday.
The 22-year-old Barbadian hit 21 off 16 balls and shared an invaluable 48-run partnership with captain Harry Brook, which helped England reach 161 for six in 19.3 overs after they restricted New Zealand to 159 for seven in their top-of-the-table clash at the R Premadasa Stadium.
Jacob Bethell
Bethell came to the crease with England in dire straits following the loss of openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler with just two runs on the board.
Together with Brook, who scored a cautious 26 off 24 balls, they lifted England to relative safety at 50 for two to leave the game evenly poised.
Tom Banton then scored 33 off 24 balls, Will Jacks hit an unbeaten 32 from 18 balls, Sam Curran made 24, and Rehan Ahmed finished on 19 not out off seven balls, to ensure England finished top of Group 2.
Earlier, Jacks (2-23), Ahmed (2-28), and Adil Rashid (2-28) all took two wickets to subdue New Zealand’s powerful batters.
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