Monday, May 10, 2010

England beat New Zealand to take Pakistan in semis

STAFF WRITER 2:5 HRS IST

Gros Islet (St Lucia), May 10 (PTI) Assured of a berth in the last four stage, England edged out New Zealand by three wickets in a Super Eight match to clear Pakistan's semifinal passage as well in the Twenty20 World Cup here today.

After Pakistan beat South Africa at the same venue a few hours before to rekindle their semifinal hopes, New Zealand desperately needed a win to qualify as the second team from Group E but today's defeat and an inferior net run-rate saw them being pipped to the post by Shahid Afridi and his men.

Paul Collingwood and his men showed they were in no mood to entertain the Kiwi hopes as they first restricted New Zealand to 149 for six and then cruised to 153 for seven in 19.1 overs.

England's successful chase was built on cameos from Eoin Morgan (40 off 34 balls) and Michael Lumb (32).

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