England beat New Zealand by four wickets in their T20 World Cup 2026 game in Colombo on Friday (February 27). Here are the standings after the result.
The BlackCaps, needing a win to book themselves a semi-final spot, won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert provided them a superb start yet again, despite Jofra Archer bowling a fiery first over.
Allen and Seifert added 64 runs for the first wicket in seven overs, with the former falling first for a 25-ball 35 to Adil Rashid. Allen followed his opening partner four deliveries later for 29 off 19, becoming Will Jacks’ first dismissal of the night.
Rachin Ravindra, coming in at No.3, struggled to get going and was sent back for a 13-ball 11 by Rehan Ahmed, who picked up the wicket on his first delivery of the T20 World Cup. England's spinners further ramped up the pressure, making run-scoring tougher, evident by the fact that New Zealand could hit just three boundaries (two fours and a six) in the last six overs.
Glenn Phillips was their top-scorer with a 28-ball 39, while all of Rashid, Jacks and Rehan picked up two wickets each. Liam Dawson also took a wicket, that of Daryl Mitchell, as New Zealand finished at 159-7.
England’s openers fell cheaply: Phil Salt scored just two runs while Jos Buttler was dismissed for a duck, furthering his run of consecutive single-digit dismissals to five. Captain Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell got England to the 50-run mark before they fell within eight runs of each other. The Kiwi spinners also came into their own, not allowing England to run through with the game and tightened the screws.
Sam Curran scored 24 runs, but took 22 deliveries for it, while Tom Banton added 33 crucial runs off 24 balls to take England closer to the target. But he became the sixth wicket to fall, with England still at 117 in the 17th over.
Will Jacks, in supreme form throughout the World Cup, then took over, slamming 22 runs off the 18th over bowled by Phillips to bring the equation down to 21 off 12. Rehan played a more than handy knock of 19 off seven, hitting 16 off the 19th over, while Jacks finished with 32 off 18. England ended their Super Eights campaign unbeaten, and sealed their position at the top of group two.
Super 8 - Match 9, England vs New Zealand
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- Ball by ball Over
T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eights: Updated points table after ENG v NZ
While England consolidated their position at the top of the table, while the BlackCaps remain in second. New Zealand will now have to wait for the result of the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka game to learn whether they will reach the knockout stages.
Super Eights, group 1
| Rank | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Points | NRR |
| 1 | South Africa (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +2.890 |
| 2 | West Indies | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +1.791 |
| 3 | India | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.100 |
| 4 | Zimbabwe (E) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4.475 |
Super Eights, group 2
| Rank | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Points | NRR |
| 1 | England (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +1.100 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | +1.390 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -0.461 |
| 4 | Sri Lanka (E) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.800 |
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