T20 WC: Kiwis look to heal old wounds, England eye third final of showpiece event
Nov 09, 2021
Abu Dhabi [UAE], November 9 : England and New Zealand will lock horns on Wednesday for the first time in an ICC knockout game since the 2019 ODI World Cup final.
While England will aim to reach their third final of the ICC men's T20 World Cup, New Zealand will look to heal the wounds of the final loss in the 2019 showpiece event.
By doing so, New Zealand will also aim to reach the finals of the T20 World for the first time since the inception of the event in 2007.
England topped Group 1 and knocked opponents South Africa out of the tournament last week.
On the other hand, New Zealand sealed their place in the 2021 semi-finals in style courtesy of a comfortable eight-wicket win over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
In the 2019 ODI World Cup final, the tournament witnessed a first-ever Super Over in which England defeated New Zealand to lift their maiden title on the basis of boundary countback rule at the Lord's Cricket Ground.
The 50-over game between England and New Zealand ended in a tie and the teams then took the field for the Super Over.
In the Super Over, both teams managed to score 15 runs each but England was announced as the winner as they had hit more boundaries in the allotted overs.
In case semi-final games are tied, a Super Over will be played and if that also doesn't help in deciding the winner then another Super Over shall be staged until there is a clear winner.
As per ICC, after a tie, weather conditions prevent the Super Over from being completed, or if the match is abandoned or a no result, then the side that finished first in its Super 12s Group will progress to play the summit clash.
While New Zealand is coming on the back of a win in the semi-finals, England have their feet on the ground following a first defeat of the tournament last week.
England will be without the services of Jason Roy who was forced off with a calf injury having made 20 off 16 balls as England looked to chase down 189 in their last Super 12 stage match.
Emotions and excitement will be all-time high on Wednesday when the two teams face each other in what is being touted as a mouth-watering clash between England and New Zealand.
