Roy, Root take England to final

Maiden T20i fifty from Roy, late cameos from Root and Buttler gave England a comfortable seven wickets win over New Zealand in the 1st semi-final of ICC WT20 2016 at Delhi, India tonight.

Chasing 154, England’s first wicket stand of 82 allowed the lower order batters to finish the job with 17 balls remaining in the match.

Roy was the star with 78 from 44. Root chipped in with 27 and Buttler 32 late in the chase.

For New Zealand, Ish Sodhi was the most successful bowler with two for 42. Santner picked up a wicket in his spells.

Ish Sodhi of New Zealand rocked England in the 13 over by taking two key wickets against the run of play.

England captain Morgan was out for a golden-duck as the batsman played round a full delivery which straightened on him…striking middle of middle!

Sodhi gave Kiwis the important wicket of Jason Roy in the 13 th over. A magnificent innings from Roy came to an end when he missed a straight delivery and was bowled for 78.

Roy was the mainstay of England’s chase, faced only 44 balls and smoked 11 fours and a six to keep the Kiwi bowlers at bay.

Kiwi spinner Santner brought his side back into the match with a timely wicket in the ninth over of England chase.

Santner stopped the Hales-Roy stand at 82 when he sent back Hales for 20. The English batsman got underneath a full delivery, had the elevation but not the distance, and was easily pouched by Munro at long-on.

England still had their noses in front, they got the ideal start for the chase tonight.

Jason Roy picked up his maiden T20I fifty, that came from 26 balls when he took a single in the first ball of the seventh over. After the over was completed, the English opener was batting on 55 from 28 balls, and struck ten fours during his time at the wicket.

The first wicket partnership between Roy and Hales produced 75 runs in seven overs, and constructed the perfect platform for the chase as far as the English were concerned.

England opener Jason Roy came out to bat like a man possessed and smashed anything in his arc with utter disdain. He took the attack to the Kiwi bowlers and smoked some boundaries early.

Earlier, England restricted New Zealand to 153 for 8 after 20 overs with a professional display with in the field late in the innings.

Kiwis were placed after their second wicket stand, but lost wickets in regular intervals to limp to 153. Munro top-scored with 46 from 32. Williamson contributed with 32 while Anderson made 28.

For England, Stokes picked up wickets late in the innings to finish with three for 26. Willey, Jordan, Plunkett and Moeen grabbed a wicket each.

The last over bowled by Stokes produced only three runs, and New Zealand lost two wickets as well. Santner was caught out for seven. McClenaghan was run out for one.

Kiwis were rattled 18th over of their innings when Ben Stokes of England took two wickets and conceded only five runs.

Anderson was gone for a useful 28 from 23 balls. He struck two fours and a six before smoking a full toss from Stokes straight down the throat of Jordan at long-off.

Stokes got the fifth breakthrough for England in the 18th over when his low full toss was carted to the fielder by Kiwi keeper Ronchi. Ronchi managed only three runs.

England allrounder Jordan picked his first wicket in the 17th over when he got the important wicket of Ross Taylor for only six runs.

A diving catch by England captain Morgan lifted his team, and they were fighting hard to keep New Zealand’s total as low as possible.

New Zealand were rocked in the 14 th over, and the man who did the most damage with the bat, Munro was sent back to the pavilion for a breezy 46.

Munro guided his shot straight into the hands of third man. He faced 32 balls and hammered seven fours and a towering six in his entertaining cameo.

England fight back with wickets…

The second wicket partnership that looked like taking the game away from England was broken in the 11th over by the spinner Moeen Ali.

Kiwi skipper Williamson sent a skier to mid off where the bowler didn’t make any mistake. Williamson made 32 from 28 balls with three fours and a six.

Munro and Williamson removed the early jitters and batted with confidence. They produced 74 runs in 8.2 overs.

England got their first breakthrough in the third over, and the big wicket of Guptill was bagged by Willey to the relief of his teammates.

The ball was in the slot for Guptill to tee off, but he edged it to the keeper. Guptill was livid with himself and gestured that he should have hit the ball over wide mid-off/cover. Poor shot indeed!

New Zealand opener Guptill scored a quick 15 with three boundaries to his name.

England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and asked New Zealand skipper Kane Wiliamson to bat first given the conditions at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi in the important 1st semi-final of ICC WT20 2016 in India.

Both teams have had success adopting contrasting tactics so far. While New Zealand have banked on their relatively inexperienced spinners, in a horses for courses policy, England have gone with the stick to your strengths in all conditions style.

The Kiwis are unbeaten so far in the tournament - the only such team - and it is an indicator of how successful they've been with their planning and execution.

New Zealand had not played in Asia since late 2014, but they are here at the semi-finals now; the only undefeated side. They have not just been clever with the ball. Batting first in each group match, competitive scores have been worked out and achieved.

New Zealand's success with spinners is something that the people haven't had enough about. So much so that their batsmen have been pushed to the back seat!

England, meanwhile, have been tempered in three scrapes, since losing their first match to West Indies.

The chase of 230 against South Africa was a triumph of the batsmen's making. Then the bowlers held their nerve as Afghanistan made a late charge at England's low total at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Finally, just as Sri Lanka appeared to be stealing away the must-win match, Joe Root completed an outstanding take at mid-off to turn the match his team's way.

England have the fire-power to outscore New Zealand but can they do so against in-form spinners?

There's a sell-out crowd expected at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi for the match and it does promise to be an engaging one as all the questions get answered.

New Zealand

Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson(c), Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi(w), Mitchell Santner, Mitchell McClenaghan, Ish Sodhi, and Adam Milne

England

Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Jos Buttler(w), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, David Willey and Liam Plunkett

The official coin of ICC World T20 2016 at India used for the toss. Photo: ICC