Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks smashed 44 off 16 balls to take England to a thrilling four-wicket T20 World Cup win in Colombo that denied New Zealand a guaranteed place in the semi-finals but kept Pakistan’s slender hopes alive.
New Zealand would have joined England in the knockouts with a win in their final Super Eights match and they scored 159-6 after opting to bat.
England lost wickets early and looked like they would be squeezed out at 117-6, needing 43 from the last three overs.
But Ahmed and Jacks took 22 off the 18th over from Glenn Phillips to turn the match on its head.
Ahmed blasted 19 off seven balls in his first T20 World Cup match alongside Jacks, who made an unbeaten 32 off 18, to see England to 161-6 with three balls to spare.
England will move on to a semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday against either India or the West Indies, who clash on Sunday to decide the final semi-final berth.
New Zealand now have to wait on the outcome of Saturday’s clash between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Kandy to know if they have qualified for a semi-final in Kolkata against South Africa.
Pakistan have an inferior run rate so they need to win by 64 runs or inside 13 overs to overtake the Kiwis and deny them a place in the final four. If Pakistan qualify, then the semi-final would be played in Colombo.
England used five spinners to bowl 16 of the 20 overs on a turning track.
The 2010 and 2022 champions had never bowled so many overs of spin before in a T20 international.
Jacks returned the best figures with 2-23, while Adil Rashid picked up 2-28 and is now England’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 11.
Rashid was complemented by fellow wrist spinner Ahmed, who was called up in place of Jamie Overton, and took a wicket with his first ball before finishing with 2-28 from three overs.
Glenn Phillips top scored with 39 off 28, including four fours and a six, while opener Tim Seifert scored 35.
Liam Dawson (1-32) and Jacob Bethell (0-13) were the other spinners employed by England.
