Daryl Michell was the hero as New Zealand chased down 167 in Abu Dhabi to seal a spot in the World Cup final first time in their T20 cricket World Cup history.
The Black Caps opener carried his bat in a stunning knock, producing a brilliant late display of power-hitting as New Zealand raced through the gears to avoid a nervy finish, winning with an over to spare.
Chris Woakes’ two early wickets in the Powerplay had restricted the Kiwi chase. But a steadying knock from Devon Conway and a quickfire 27 from James Neesham put New Zealand on top, with Chris Jordan’s 16th over going for 23 runs to swing the match in New Zealand’s favour.
And it was Mitchell who finished the job, hitting 25 off his last seven deliveries to win it with an over to spare.
Earlier, Ali and Dawid Malan helped England reach 166/4 in an occasionally scratchy first innings.
Scoring was slow and steady for much of England’s effort with the bat, with openers Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler steady but unspectacular through the Powerplay, before Malan and Ali’s partnership rebuilt the innings.
Some big hits late on from Livingstone and Ali, who finished on 51*, helped England to 166/4.
But England needed a big effort from their bowling attack to tie New Zealand down in the reply, and they were unable to do so, missing out on a third-straight place in a World Cup final.
New Zealand had needed 109 off the last 10 overs, and with the required rate steadily climbing it was clear that they needed a big finish. And that is exactly what they got, with Neesham launching 27 off just 11 deliveries to turn the game back in New Zealand’s favour.
Nineteen of Neesham’s runs came off Jordan’s pivotal 16th over, which went for 23 runs in total, just as a tense finish looked likely.
And Mitchell, who had anchored the innings for long periods, joined the party by going big himself to race to his half-century and finish on an unbeaten 72 from 47.
Needing a big finish to reach a competitive total, Ali and Liam Livingstone unleashed late on, with captain Morgan dropped off the final ball as England finished four down.
Livingstone’s 17 off 10 did the job for his side as a finisher, with Ali ending unbeaten on 51 off 37.
But ultimately it wasn’t enough to deny New Zealand their spot in the final on Sunday against either Australia or Pakistan.
