ENG vs NZ Highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: Lifeline for Pakistan as England beat New Zealand to top Super 8 group

Mitchell Santner to Harry Brook, Tossed up, on off, Harry Brook defends it back to the bowler.

Mitchell Santner to Harry Brook, Short of a length, around off, Harry Brook punches it to the right of the bowler, but Santner dives and stops it.

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, Short, on middle, Jacob Bethell tucks it to deep square leg for one.

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, Fuller, around off, turning in, Jacob Bethell looks to defend but gets a slight inside edge and it raps him on his pad.

Mitchell Santner to Harry Brook, Short, around off, Harry Brook punches it to cover for one.

DRINKS BREAK. It has been an excellent start from the Kiwi pacers. Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry got a wicket each and dismissed the English openers. However, skipper Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell have stepped up and they have formed a sturdy partnership. They would now like to extend their stay till the first half of the chase at least. 

Cole McConchie to Jacob Bethell, FOUR! More runs. Width on offer, outside off, short in length. Jacob Bethell goes deep into the crease and crunches a cut through cover-point for a boundary. 13 runs from the first over of Cole McConchie. 

Cole McConchie to Harry Brook, Short, on leg, Harry Brook punches it to the left of mid off for one.

Cole McConchie to Harry Brook, FOUR! Up and over! Cole McConchie drags his length back, outside off, Harry Brook rocks back and uses his bottom hand to loft it over the cover traffic for four runs.

Cole McConchie to Harry Brook, That is some fielding from Matt Henry! Much fuller, outside off, Harry Brook reverse sweeps it to the left of the short third fielder, Henry, who dives and makes a good stop. No runs from this delivery.

Cole McConchie to Harry Brook, Just like the previous delivery, Cole McConchie delivers shorter one again, on the top of leg stump. Harry Brook camps back and flicks it softly to the right of the deep square leg fielder. Brace taken.

Cole McConchie to Harry Brook, Short, on leg, Harry Brook works it to deep square leg with soft hands and gets the second run.

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, FOUR! Predetermined and effective! Flighted, on off, fuller in length, on off. Jacob Bethell sits down on one knee and reverse sweeps it through point for four runs.

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, Fuller, on leg, angling in. Jacob Bethell misses his sweep and takes a blow on right arm.

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, Pitched up, on off, Jacob Bethell skips down the track and defends it back to the bowler.

Mitchell Santner to Harry Brook, Tossed up, around the pads of the batter. Harry Brook misses his flick and gets thumped on his pad. The ball rolls to mid-wicket and the batter gets a leg bye.

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, Tossed up, around off, Jacob Bethell eases it to mid on and gets a quick single. Daryl Mitchell picks the ball and throws it to the bowler's end, but misses the direct hit. 

Mitchell Santner to Jacob Bethell, Short, around off, Jacob Bethell pulls it to short mid-wicket.

Lockie Ferguson to Harry Brook, Yorker, down the leg side, Harry Brook digs it out.

Lockie Ferguson to Harry Brook, FOUR! Oh my goodness, that went like a tracer bullet. Good-length delivery, just outside off, Harry Brook stays on his back foot and drills it with all the power, through the line of the delivery. The ball zips past the fielder in the cover region and rolls away to the sweeper cover fence for four runs.

Lockie Ferguson to Harry Brook, Huge appeal for LBW, but the impact is clearly outside off. This one is fuller, on the fourth stump. Harry Brook shuffles across and loses his balance while trying to ramp it. Brook misses the shot and wears it on his front pad. 

Lockie Ferguson to Harry Brook, Lockie Ferguson attempts a yorker, but spills a full toss, down the leg side. Harry Brook makes room and punches it straight to mid-wicket.

Lockie Ferguson to Jacob Bethell, Hard-length delivery, outside off, Jacob Bethell slaps it to the right of the backward point fielder and gets across for a single.

Lockie Ferguson to Jacob Bethell, FOUR! Punched down the ground! Back of a length, just outside off, angling away, Jacob Bethell stands tall and punches it against the pace of the ball. The ball zips toward the right of the mid on fielder and races away to the fence for four runs.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, SIX! Brookball on display! Full and straight, Brook is initially backing away but then, suddenly, changes stance, gets down and across, and plays an audacious scoop. So audacious is the shot that he gets it over square leg and the ball hits the digital scoreboard at that end and breaks something! 11 from the over and England will hope that it ignites their flames.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, FOUR! UP AND OVER! Brook connects at last. Short, outside off, the skipper backs away to the leg side and slaps this over point, getting his first boundary.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, NEARLY A RUN OUT NOW! Nervous times for England. On middle and leg, the skipper nudges this through mid-wicket and sets off for a single. But his partner is ball watching and has not moved a muscle. Brook has to scamper back and luckily for him, the fielder misses his shy at the striker's end. Direct hit would have been interesting.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, High-class bowling. On a good length, around off, Harry looks to play this straight but the ball lands and then nips away after pitching, bouncing as well, to beat the outside edge.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, Back of a length, outside off, Brook gets across and tries to lap again. He loses his footing, misses the ball and gets hit on the chest as well.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, On middle and off, solidly defended.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, WIDE. Down the leg side, Brook moves across and looks to scoop but misses.

Lockie Ferguson to Jacob Bethell, INSIDE EDGE, FOUR! Since when did R.Premadasa become Headingley? On a length, around middle, Jacob Bethell looks to defend but the ball swings back in a mile, cramps the batter for room, takes the inside edge and luckily for Bethell, goes over the stumps, to the fine leg fence! A wicket and 6 runs from an extremely rapid Ferguson over.

Lockie Ferguson to Jacob Bethell, Around off, Bethell pushes it towards point.

Lockie Ferguson to Harry Brook, Outside off, on a length, Harry Brook steps out and tries to hammer this through the off side. But he does not get any room and gets a thick inside edge instead, which goes past the stumps towards short fine leg! A single taken.

Lockie Ferguson to Jacob Bethell, On a length, down the leg side, Jacob Bethell misses his flick and gets hit on the pads. The ball deflects away to the leg side and the batters pinch a leg bye.

Early trouble. Jacob Bethell walks in next, at number 4, replacing Jos Buttler.

Lockie Ferguson to Jos Buttler, OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! Buttler's rotten luck gets even worse. He was coming off single-digit scores in his last 4 innings and now, add a duck in the 5th as well. On a good length, outside off, pretty much similar to the previous one, but this has extreme pace. As a result, there is extra bounce as well and all Buttler is able to do, is follow the away movement, aiming to guide it to the off side. But he is unable to adjust to the bounce and gets a thick outside edge. The keeper, Tim Seifert, leaps to his right slightly and makes no mistake. ENGLAND ARE 2/2 and need another 158 RUNS FROM 112 BALLS!

Lockie Ferguson to Jos Buttler, On a good length, outside off, Jos Buttler pushes it towards point.

Any chance of spin with the new ball? Nope. Pace. Sheer one. Lockie Ferguson will share the new-ball attack.

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, Whoa! A terrific delivery to end a sensational opening over. Brook jumps out but Henry follows him, bowling this on back of a length, outside off. Brook looks to go inside out but misses and the ball goes over the stumps!

Matt Henry to Harry Brook, On middle and off, Harry Brook pushes this towards mid on.

Skipper time? Indeed. As mentioned at the toss by himself, Harry Brook strides out at number 3, replacing Phil Salt.

Matt Henry to Phil Salt, OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! Just as they found Mitchell Starc too hot to handle in the Ashes with the new ball, England are facing problems against Matt Henry as well. He will be on a plane in roughly four hours from now, as he seeks a paternity leave back home after this match. On a length, around off, Phil Salt looks to hit it on the up over mid off or cover but the ball lands and then shapes away a touch. This time, the outside edge is taken and the ball goes straight to the keeper behind and Tim Seifert makes no mistake. Salt departs cheaply and ENGLAND ARE 2/1! Equation - 158 runs, 116 balls.

Matt Henry to Phil Salt, On a length, outside off, moving away sharply, Phil has a massive hoick, only to miss.

Matt Henry to Phil Salt, Wow. This one moves the other way! On a length, outside off, Salt stays back to play, assuming it will come in. But the ball lands and then shapes away, squaring him up. Takes the leading edge and goes behind point. A couple taken.

Matt Henry to Phil Salt, On a length, outside off, nipping back in sharply. Phil Salt plays all around it, as he looks to flick and misses, getting hit on the pads. There are mutiple appeals for LBW but none is given. Going down the leg side.

We are all set to commence the second inning! New Zealand, just after entering the field, have been spotted making a huddle. It seems skipper Mitchell Santner has last few words to his teammates before they disperse to take their fielding position. It's Phil Salt and Jos Buttler to open the inning for England. Matt Henry will start with the new ball with a slip in place. Away we go...

... THE RUN CHASE ...

The Spin Siege - From England's perspective, the Powerplay went really bad. They gave away 54 runs without picking a single wicket. The game turned when Adil Rashid got the opening breakthrough. After that the bowling changes were wrapping one after the other. It was a sensational World Cup debut from Rehan Ahmed as well. He bowled three overs and picked up two wickets, giving 28 runs. Will Jacks and Adil Rashid ended with two wickets each and Liam Dawson chipped in with one. But it would be interesting to see how the Kiwi spinners will get into the action. Please stay tuned for the second innings.

If the ball is there to be hit, we will hit sixes - England's REHAN AHMED comes up for a chat. On cricket seeming pretty easy after a wonderful World Cup debut, Rehan smiles and says that he wishes that the game was easy. Admits that he didn't get the length right on his first ball, but feels grateful that Rachin Ravindra didn't hit it as he ought to. On the nerves before this game, Ahmed credits his teammates, for making it very easy for him and adds that after his first ball, he felt at home. On the pitch, RA says that it's breaking up. Reckons that 160 is about par and feels that England did very well to peg the Kiwis back from around 130/4. On his side's batters going about the run chase, Rehan Ahmed smiles and says that everyone has different approaches. Stresses that if the ball is there to hit, the batters will hit sixes, else they will knock it around. On the knowledge of the surface, Rehan says that he had played some practice matches here and also some one-dayers before the World Cup. Ends by saying that the track is pretty much doing the same way as it has been doing in the past.