Johannesburg, Sep 30 (Inditop.com) New Zealand sailed into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, beating England by four wickets in a Group B match at the Wanderers here Tuesday.
An explosive 39-ball 48 from wicketkeeper Brendan McCullum and a patient 53 from Martin Guptill saw New Zealand achieve the target of 147 in 27.1 overs by losing six wickets. With the win New Zealand spoiled Sri Lanka’s chances of making the semi-finals while England were the first team to make it to the last four.
England batsmen suffered on the lively Wanderers track after being asked to bat by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.
Fast bowlers Grant Elliot (4-31) and Shane Bond (3-21) spitted fire and reduced England to 109 for eight, but Paul Collingwood (40) and Ravi Bopara (30) played crucial knocks before they were all out for 146 runs in 43.1 overs. Elliot was also adjudged as the Man of the Match.
In reply, McCullum and Guptill gave New Zealand a runaway start with their 84-run stand for the first wicket. McCullum hit three sixes and four fours during his short cameo before he mistimed his shot off Stuart Broad (4-39) and Bopara took an easy catch in the cover.
With New Zealand inching towards a win, Guptill also edged James Anderson to Grame Swann triggering a mini slide as the Black Caps slumped from 113 for two to 150 for five.
Vettori (10 not out) then stood his ground to seem his team romp home safely.
Earlier in the day, England’s batting woes continues as openers Andrew Strauss and Joe Denly (5) were back in the pavilion in the fourth over. The situation got worse after Owais Shah (3) and Eoin Morgan (9) were also dismissed leaving England struggling at 50 for four.
Collingwood and Bopara then added some stability with their 30-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Collingwood feel 43 runs short to overtake Graham Gooch and become England’s third-highest run-scorer in one-day internationals.
Collingwood was also involved in a controversial incident in the 11th over when he appeared to be reprieved by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori after being stumped. The English batsman was beaten by a delivery from Kyle Mills, Collingwood stepped two yards up the wicket to examine the spot where the ball landed only for wicketkeeper McCullum to throw the ball to the stumps.
Television replays showed that Daryl Harper had called over, which would have made appeals null and void but still Asad Rauf referred it to the TV official Aleem, who confirmed that Collingwood was out.
But after a discussion in the middle with his teammates, Vettori decided not to claim the wicket. Before the start of the next over, Collingwood ran to mid-off to shake hands with Vettori.