Abu Dhabi, Nov 10 (UNI) Moeen Ali's 51 not out took England to 166 for 4 against New Zealand in the first semifinal of the T20 WC, here on Wednesday.
Moeen smashed 3 fours and 2 sixes during his impressive 37-ball knock that helped England reach a fighting total. The batting all-rounder added 63 runs with Dawid Malan (40) for the third wicket.
The Kiwis need 167 to take a sweet revenge against England who had defeated them in the last ICC ODI World Cup final.
England could muster only 30 runs between fifth and tenth over and lost Jonny Bairstow (13) and Jos Buttler (29) and almost lost Malan if make-shift keeper Devon Conway hadn't dropped a catch off James Neesham.
Nevertheless, Malan and Moeen brought the England innings back on track and laid the perfect platform to burst in death overs. As many as 99 runs came off the last 10 overs.
Sent in to bat, England began as Bairstow and Buttler smashed a few early boundaries.
However, Bairstow's party ended after he had scored 14 as New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson took a brilliant catch off Adam Milne. England had reached 45 for 1 after 7 overs.
In the next three overs, England added 22 runs but also lost their in-form batter Buttler as he was trapped in front on 29 off spinner Ish Sodhi.
Very few teams assess conditions as quickly as New Zealand. They knew bowling quick here will get them wickets and getting England's openers could be decisive. Therefore, Williamson gave Tim Southee the ball within the Powerplay.
Once Southee was done, he brought in Milne, who immediately struck, giving first wicket for New Zealand. Sodhi, who was not great against England, managed to get the second wicket.
For New Zealand, Southee, Sodhi, Glenn Phillips and Milne picked one wicket each.
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