New Zealand 142/8 (20/20 ov)
Australia 134/9 (20/20 ov)
New Zealand won by 8 runs
New Zealand's Midas touch at this World Twenty20 continued in Dharamsala, where they took their tournament record to two wins from two matches with an eight-run victory over Australia. Having spun India out in Nagpur, New Zealand made one change to their side, bringing in the fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan to replace the spinner Nathan McCullum. McClenaghan duly took 3 for 17 and played a significant role in derailing Australia's innings.
Australia, by comparison, seemed confused at the selection table. They picked two specialist spinners to complement allrounder Glenn Maxwell but those two men - Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa - bowled only one over each. The No.1 batsman on the ICC's T20 international rankings, Aaron Finch, was also left out, as was Josh Hazlewood. Australia's performance was far from disastrous, as the margin suggests, but neither did they seem entirely cohesive.
Another strange call was the decision to send Agar in ahead of Australia's most renowned finisher, James Faulkner, with 43 needed off 30 balls and five wickets in hand. Agar scored 9 off eight balls, and Faulkner did not get to face a ball until there were 21 needed off 10 balls. That was in the penultimate over of the chase of 143, an over in which McClenaghan took two big wickets, those of Agar and Mitchell Marsh for 24. From 22 needed off 12, Australia soon needed 19 off the last over.
Corey Anderson was given the responsibility by Kane Williamson and had Faulkner caught in the deep first ball; Australia's finisher was finished, and so were their hopes. Earlier, Williamson had won the toss and chose to bat on a dry surface that both captains expected would become slower, and New Zealand's 142 for 8 proved adequate.
Usman Khawaja, selected to open alongside Shane Watson, gave Australia an encouraging start and was picking gaps at will, but his run-out on 38 from 27 balls was a turning point. Adam Milne's throw from the deep to the bowler Grant Elliott caught the diving Khawaja just short, and Australia were 62 for 3 in the ninth over, their momentum rapidly deserting them. The rest of the batsmen struggled to get in on the slow pitch.
Mitchell Santner's first two overs had been outstanding, continuing his form from the win over India. Just as he had Rohit Sharma, Santner deceived Smith with a beautiful delivery that dropped and turned past the edge as Smith danced down the crease. Luke Ronchi completed the stumping, Smith was gone for 6, and Santner soon added the wicket of David Warner to his collection as well.
McClenaghan had picked up the first wicket, with Watson caught off a slower ball for 13, and he returned later to remove Mitchell Marsh and Agar. Marsh had struck a couple of sixes to give Australia hope but once he and Glenn Maxwell, who played so many reverse shots he seemed at times to be a proper if out-of-touch left-hander, departed, New Zealand were firmly in control.
They had seemed to be in complete control early in their own innings, at 58 for 0 from six overs. New Zealand's left-arm spinner was Santner but his Australian counterpart was the one delivering gifts. Agar, with all of one match and two overs behind him in his T20 international career, bowled the third over and was understandably nervous. So much so that his first two balls were full tosses that Martin Guptill duly smashed for six.
Another six to end Agar's over left him with figures of 0 for 18 from six balls, and he was not asked to bowl another one for the rest of the innings. In fact, Smith's use of his spinners was rather curious all round. Australia chose all the spinners in their squad, from A to Z, but the rest of the alphabet did all the work. After Agar, Zampa bowled one over of legspin and cost just three runs, but like Agar was not called upon again.
Smith got three overs out of Maxwell but mostly relied on his fast and medium options. They were effective enough, helping to restrict New Zealand to 142 for 8 after Guptill got them away to a flying start. Guptill raced to 39 from 27 deliveries but was the first man to fall, holing out to deep midwicket off Faulkner's bowling. Faulkner picked up two wickets, as did Maxwell, but Watson and Marsh also kept things tight.
New Zealand's batsmen kept making starts only to get caught going for the big shot. Williamson skied one for 24. Anderson slogged down the ground for 3. Colin Munro, tied down by Marsh, pulled to deep midwicket for 23 to end an entertaining innings that featured effective reverse hitting. Ross Taylor was taken at deep midwicket for 11, as was Ronchi for 6. Had Australia been on a fishing trawler they could hardly have hoped for more catches in the deep.
But New Zealand had enough runs in the end and with two wins from two matches, and games against Pakistan and Bangladesh to come, they ended the night terrifically placed to reach the semi-finals. Australia, like India, have some thinking to do.
South Africa 229/4 (20/20 ov)
England 230/8 (19.4/20 ov)
England won by 2 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
England completed the second-highest successful chase in T20 internationals and the highest in World T20 history to keep their campaign alive. They held their nerve chasing 230, thanks to a blistering start from Jason Roy and a clinical innings from Joe Root that ripped South Africa's attack apart and undid their batsmen's efforts.
Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy all scored half-centuries in a line-up that included AB de Villiers at No. 3 and South Africa would have thought they had enough. Instead, they were left to rue the three overs between 10 and 13, bowled by Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, when South Africa could not find the boundary and scored just 14 runs. Before that, they were 125 for 2; after it, 139 for 3 and it was the difference between a score under 250 and one greater than. In the end, South Africa needed the latter.
On a night when no one wanted to be a bowler, the England seamers' scattergun approach was nullified by South Africa's overcompensation in bowling too straight, as well as some ill discipline. While England only gave away two wides, South Africa donated 20. An England line-up whose approach is built on aggression punished them for that.
Given the magnitude of their task, England showed intent from the first ball. Jason Roy swung hard at Kagiso Rabada and took 21 runs of the opening over - the most Rabada has conceded in an over in this format.
Alex Hales treated Dale Steyn with equal disdain. He sent the first three balls for four, all flicks on the leg side, although he should have been dismissed off the first. Kyle Abbott was at short fine leg and could not hold on. Roy had even less respect for Steyn. He finished the over with 10 runs off two balls to take England to 44 after two overs, the most runs off 12 balls in a T20. It was also Steyn's most expensive T20I over
England were running away with it but Abbott made up for his earlier blunder when he had Hales rapped on the pads in front of middle and leg to strike the first blow.
Ben Stokes was promoted to No. 3, Roy kept going and South Africa had to turn to death bowling strategies in the Powerplay. Abbott searched for the yorker and found it but when he missed Roy ramped him for six over de Kock's head. Roy tried to do it again but skied it and de Kock took the catch, ending his contribution at 43 from 16 balls.
When Stokes hit a Rabada full toss to the deep square leg boundary, it was advantage South Africa. Although England had more runs than South Africa had after six overs - 89 to 83 - they had already lost three wickets.
Imran Tahir was introduced in the seventh over and immediately quietened things down. His opening over cost seven runs without a boundary and, having seen England's spinners have a similar impact, Faf du Plessis gambled with bringing on Duminy. It paid off as Duminy worked in tandem with Tahir and snaffled Eoin Morgan, who chopped on, to keep the advantage with South Africa at the halfway point. After 10 overs South Africa were 125 for 2; England 118 for 4.
But the brakes were slammed on South Africa's innings then when Rashid and Moeen kept du Plessis and Duminy quiet. In the same period, South Africa used Chris Morris, Duminy and Steyn and the effect was entirely the opposite. England scored 42 runs in those three overs, Morris bowled short balls to his detriment, Root and Jos Buttler finally decided to take on Duminy and Steyn could not scare England into a mistake. The advantage swung. After 13 overs, England were 160 for 4 and the required rate had been dragged down from over 11 to 10.
South Africa still had Tahir and he went on to become the only bowler not to concede a boundary on the night, and to remove Buttler, but he lacked support. Morris was South Africa's weak link and gave Root the full toss that saw him bring up fifty off 30 balls. His was the slowest half-century of the night, after de Kock's came up off 21 balls, Amla's off 25 and Duminy's 26, but it was the one that mattered most.
Root took England to within 11 runs of victory before he swatted Rabada to deep midwicket and left it for Moeen to finish off. England lost two more wickets before they got there, but they won't dwell on those late nerves.
They will, however, want to address their own bowling lapses and a messy fielding performance that saw them on the received end of a total in excess of 220 for the fourth time. Reece Topley offered too much width even as Morgan refused to put a fielder at point to allow de Kock to hit him through there three times. De Kock was even more severe on Willey and forced Morgan to introduce a spinner in the Powerplay.
Amla had only faced three balls by the time Moeen came on but already had his eye in. Amla found two boundaries before he should have been caught at mid-off but Topley, perhaps still recovering from his own mauling, spilled the chance. Jordan and Stokes could not find control and England conceded 81 runs in the five overs after Willey's first had gone for two.
Rashid was introduced as soon as the fielding restrictions were lifted but did not immediately appear a threat. De Kock used his first ball to bisect the men in the deep and bring up his first T20I fifty but did not add many more to his total. He picked out the fielder at deep midwicket to allow South Africa to unleash de Villiers on the perfect platform.
The innings seemed to be playing to script when de Villiers smacked successive sixes but his show was short lived. Instead it was Amla and then Duminy who kept South Africa going. They scored 90 runs off the last seven overs but on a small field, a good pitch and against a bloody-minded England, it was not enough.
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