Black Caps squander initial chance to seal semifinal spot at T20 World Cup with loss to England

Saturday, 28 February 2026

T20 World Cup, Colombo: New Zealand 159-7 (Glenn Phillips 39 from 28 balls, Tim Seifert 35 from 25; Will Jacks 2-23 from 4 overs, Adil Rashid 2-28 from 4, Rehan Ahmed 2-28 from 3) lost to England 161-6 in 19.3 overs (Tom Banton 33 from 24 balls, Jacks 32no from 18 balls; Rachin Ravindra 3-19 from 4) by four wickets. Click here for full scoreboard.

The Black Caps aren’t in the T20 World Cup semifinals just yet.

A four-wicket defeat to England in Colombo on Saturday morning (NZ time) meant New Zealand missed their chance of sealing a place in the last four of the tournament.

Now they have to wait and see if Pakistan can pass them onto second spot on the Group Two table in the Super Eights section with a huge win over Sri Lanka.

For NZ to miss the semis, Pakistan will need to beat the Cup co-hosts by 64 runs or successfully chase in 13.1 overs in Pallekele overnight (NZ time).

The Black Caps looked likely to put a last-four place beyond doubt when England needed 43 runs to win from the last three overs, but big hitting from the seventh-wicket pair of Will Jacks (32 not out from 18 balls) and Rehan Ahmed (19no from seven) got them home with three balls to spare.

The first job for the Black Caps to assist them to qualify for the last four was to compile a tally batting first which should have ensured their opponents wouldn’t be able to chase down with overs to spare.

At the midway stage after making 159-7, they wouldn’t have been fully satisfied, even allowing for how difficult spin was to bat against. England’s slow bowlers delivered all 14 overs after the Power Play, capturing 7-105.

They also had the scary speed of Jofra Archer, whose opening over was a maiden to Tim Seifert, and it wasn’t until the 10th ball he’d faced from the England pace bowler that he finally got the hang of hitting him, reeling off two fours and a six in successive deliveries.

New Zealand then did well to reach the end of the Power Play at 54-0, but Seifert and Allen fell in consecutive overs, and England’s slow bowlers picked up wickets consistently enough to deny momentum.

The Black Caps went 26 balls without a boundary from the start of the 14th over, and managed just three more before the innings ended - one which came from a misfield, while Santner struck the final delivery for six.

As he did in the win over Sri Lanka, Matt Henry struck in the first over with the ball, getting Phil Salt caught behind, and the all-pace approach paid major dividends in the next over when Lockie Fergsuon had the desperately out-of-touch Jos Buttler nick one to Seifert.

Skipper Harry Brook (26 from 24 balls), fresh off a century against Pakistan, took on the first ball from Glenn Phillips and couldn’t loft it over Daryl Mitchell at long-off, and a pumped-up Phillips continued his heroics in the next over with a superb low catch to dismiss Jacob Bethell off Rachin Ravindra.

The left-arm spinner also played a starring role, taking 3-19 from his four overs while getting considerable turn.

But Phillips conceded 22 runs from the 18th over, and when 16 more came from the next bowled by captain Mitchell Santner, England had spoiled their initial party.

Henry was on his way home after the match to be at the birth of his second child with wife Holly, with the possibility he could return for the knockout matches if Pakistan don’t pull off a near-miracle.