 New Zealand pip England in Durban
18th Sep 2007 22:59 IST
Agencies
New Zealand held their nerve to beat England by five runs in a nail-biting Super Eight encounter and nearly ensured a berth in the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup at Kingsmead in Durban today.
The batsmen let down England once again as they failed to reach 165 set by Daniel Vettori's team.
England were in with a chance when they had to get 20 runs from the last two overs with Owais Shah and Twenty20 specialist Luke Wright at the crease.
But the penultimate over by speedster Shane Bond spelt disaster for England as they lost three wickets and their way.
They needed 15 off the final over from Mark Gillespie and it proved to be too much for the tailenders.
After New Zealand managed 164/9 in their 20 overs, England got a flying start with Darren Maddy (50 in 31 balls, 4x4, 2x6) and Vikram Solanki, brought into the team in place of the injured Matt Prior, (24 in 25 balls, 4x4) adding 62 in less than eight overs. But the later batsmen failed to get the job done.
Kevin Pietersen scored 24 off 16 deliveries with two fours and a six, but England were hoping for more from their best player.
Vettori, who halted India's charge in New Zealand's last game, again came up trumps taking 2 wickets for 20 runs in his four overs.
Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff also did not come to the party for England.
Bond, who was not at his best in the competition so far, also came up with identical figures to derail the English challenge.
Shah (21 in 16 balls with a six) and Wright (24 in 17 balls, one four and a six) added 42 in 4.3 overs, but could not finish the job.
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