Champions Trophy England V New Zealand: Emphatic England Trash New Zealand Comfortably
Match Highlights:
- Chasing England’s 310 New Zealand were bowled out for 223 to hand England an 87-run win
- New Zealand lost 8 wickets for 65 runs to lose from a comfortable position of 158-2
- England became the first team in the tournament to reach the semi-finals
The host nation England lived up to their billing of favorites for the tournament after an all-around performance against New Zealand saw them become the first side to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. It was a true team display one that saw a combination of superb batting, bowling and fielding performances comfortably hand England a win.
On a cold, rainy and windy day at Cardiff England not only defeated New Zealand but also the conditions. With strong winds that aided the New Zealand bowlers, the English team didn’t get off to the ideal start as they lost the dangerous Jason Roy pretty early. After a steady partnership between Alex Hales and Joe Root there was a steady fall of English wickets before some quick-fire batting by Jos Buttler (61 off 48 balls) saw England post a respectable 310 runs on a tough pitch.
The New Zealand chase got off to a decent start with captain Kane Willamson proving his mettle high scoring with 87 runs. As soon as he departed the New Zealand innings fell apart pretty quickly unable to play the ferocious and pacey English bowling attack. Liam Plunkett was the pick of the bowlers picking up 4 wickets to ensure that England saw off the match without any stress.
| England | 310 all out (49.3 overs) |
| New Zealand | 223 all out (44.3 overs) |
Jake Ball was given the man of the match award for his fiery spell of 8 overs in which he picked up 2 crucial wickets. The win took England to the top of Group A leaving Australia and New Zealand to clash for the remaining semi-final spot.
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