‘Really chuffed with the heart’

Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten 72 and Jimmy Neesham's blistering cameo led New Zealand to a dramatic five-wicket victory over England in the first Twenty20 World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

Set a tricky victory target of 167, New Zealand stumbled early in their chase before Mitchell and Devon Conway (46) put them back on track in a rematch of the 2019 one-day World Cup final.

Neesham then turned the match on its head in the 23-run 17th over, hitting Chris Jordan for two sixes and a four. Mitchell, who was adjudged player-of-the-match, guided New Zealand home with one over to spare.

When Daryl Mitchell arrived at the Twenty20 World Cup, he wasn't even sure if he'd be playing. Now, he's written a piece of New Zealand cricketing history.

Mitchell's unbeaten 73 guided the Black Caps to a superb victory– a victory that doubles as a measure of revenge for the 2019 ODI World Cup final heartbreak. This time, it was the Black Caps who came back from the dead.

When Neesham fell for an 11-ball 27, Mitchell took over. The man who had never opened in any form of cricket until the World Cup warm-up games blasted Chris Woakes for six, then six again, and finished him off with a four through backward square, to remarkably see the Black Caps home with an over to spare.

"We've played each other on a number of occasions, we knew it would be a great game of cricket," captain Kane Williamson said after New Zealand reached their first T20 World Cup final.

"Outstanding from Mitchell at the top, but cashing in on the match-ups [was crucial]. His character stood out today, an incredible knock, not done it a lot at the top of the order. T20 cricket is a game of small margins, depending on the surface, short side... can all be match-defining."

"Really chuffed with the heart that was shown throughout that performance. We had wickets in hand which was really important. Neesham came out and hit the ball hard, and changed the momentum of the game," Williamson added. England were crowned 50-overs world champions in 2019 via a now-scrapped boundary countback rule after a heart-stopping final against New Zealand at Lord's had ended in a tie.

The rematch two years on brought more drama and New Zealand had the last laugh this time.

Put into bat, England were 67-2 at the halfway stage of their innings and reached the 100-mark in 14 overs, kept in check by New Zealand's tight bowling and sharp fielding. England were forced into rejigging their opening combination having lost Jason Roy to a calf injury and Jonny Bairstow moved up to partner Jos Buttler in a move that did not really pay off.

Bairstow made 18 before driving Adam Milne to mid-off where Williamson demonstrated the sharp catching which has been the hallmark of his team.

Ish Sodhi struck a body blow when he dismissed Buttler, England's leading scorer in the tournament, lbw for 29. Conway spilled Dawid Malan (41) behind the stumps but New Zealand did not make many other errors.

Moeen (51) smashed a couple of sixes in his unbeaten 37-ball knock to take England past the 150-mark.

England fast bowler Chris Woakes wrecked New Zealand's top order, removing the dangerous Martin Guptill and the dependable Williamson in successive overs. Mitchell and Conway rebuilt the innings but England still maintained the upper hand in the see-saw contest until Neesham's late attack.

"A bit of a whirlwind, nice to get the job done and move onto the big dance. Challenging, especially at the start. The way Devon Conway batted through the middle, and Neesh (James Neesham), really helped us. It's a game of momentum, we knew we needed one or two big overs, and the way he struck the ball from ball one... With what's going on in the world, for my dad to travel half way round the world and be here is pretty cool."

— DARYL MITCHELL