Australia will be hoping England stumbles on Tuesday in their bid to keep their Twenty20 World Cup hopes alive but the Poms have made a strong start against New Zealand.
Alex Hales (31) and Jos Buttler (8) combined for 40 runs after four overs in a blistering opening in Brisbane before a brilliant catch looked to have brought an end to the partnership.
Buttler though survived, with replays showing Kane Williamson had bobbled it, with Michael Clarke calling it a “big opportunity gone” for New Zealand.
Hales would be eventually dismissed but not before he brought up his 11th T20 international half-century, finishing with 52 runs after being stumped by Mitch Santner.
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Buttler won the toss and chose to bat in an interesting decision given it is not what they would usually do.
A win for New Zealand at the Gabba will see them become the first team through to the semi-finals, with the Black Caps still in a strong position even if they lose given their net run rate.
A defeat to Ireland on the DLS scoring method and a rained-off fixture with Australia saw England drop three points from their opening three matches, leaving them in a precarious position.
They must win against New Zealand to keep their fate in their hands. A defeat and they would be reliant on the outcome of other matches.
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Both captains named unchanged teams.
Pace bowler Lockie Ferguson told reporters that New Zealand would need him and fellow quicks Trent Boult and Tim Southee to be at their best to overcome England.
“What you always expect from England is that they come out very hot,” said Ferguson.
“They pride themselves probably on that aggressive nature and bat very deep.”
Boult has been superb in the tournament so far, taking six wickets including a career-best 4-13 against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Southee took 3-6 as New Zealand started with bang, routing Australia in the tournament opener.
“Tim and Trent have had a blinder in these first two games,” said Ferguson.
“When the ball’s swinging, there’s not much better in the world. So I think from that point of view, nothing needs to change too much, and we just need to adjust to the conditions on the day.
“England are going to have a lot of firepower and we need to combat that.”
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The clash against England at the Gabba is a replay of the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final which New Zealand won by five wickets in Abu Dhabi.
It is also a repeat of the 2019 50-over World Cup final, which England edged by the finest of margins, a boundary countback, after a super over couldn’t separate the sides.
Ferguson said New Zealand knew that a win would seal a semi-final place, but they were not looking that far ahead yet.
“Clearly, there’s a long way to go for us. We need to make sure we take it game by game,” he said.
“It’s very much one game at a time. Tomorrow is a big focus for us, after that we’ll cross the next bridge when it comes.”
TEAMS:
England: Jos Buttler (capt), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Kane Williamson (capt), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Umpires: Langton Rusere (ZIM), Nitin Menon (IND)
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
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