Jacks’ all-round magic seals win vs New Zealand

• England defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets in a crucial WT20 Super 8 match.
• New Zealand posted 159/7, with Phillips scoring 39, after a strong powerplay.
• Jacks’s performance earned him player of the match as England chased the target.

England beat New Zealand by four wickets in the Super 8 match of the 2026 WT20. It was a must win game for New Zealand and they suffered a close defeat. They won the toss and opted to bat first as this

was being played on the same surface as the New Zealand and Sri Lanka game. England started off with a maiden but the New Zealand batters started the onslaught and had a very good powerplay as they scored 54/0. Both Finn Allen and Seifert took it to the bowlers and smashed a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay. New Zealand lost both their openers in a span of a few overs as they went from 64/0 to 66/2. Finn Allen scored 29 runs off 19 balls while Seifert scored 35 before getting dismissed.

Rachin Ravindra struggled a bit while Glenn Phillips looked in great touch and was smashing boundaries at will. Phillips scored 39 runs of 28 balls. It was a knock which included 4 fours and a six. England kept chipping away with wickets as they continued to bowl the spinners for the rest of the innings. New Zealand middle and lower order could not contribute much but Mitch Santner ended the innings with a six as New Zealand finished on 159/7 at the end of the first innings.

England bowled 16 overs of spin in the innings and the spinners were really good with Rashid, Jacks and Rehan Ahmed picking up two wickets each. At the halfway mark it was an above par total on a surface that was consistently offering enough help for the bowlers.

In the chase, England started off poorly once again as both the openers were dismissed within the two overs and they were 2/2. Jos Buttler’s poor form in this WT20 continued as he was dismissed for a duck by Lockie Ferguson while Salt fell for 2 runs in the first over to Matt Henry. Harry Brook played a few good shots and stitched a partnership with Bethell.

England lost Harry Brook for 26 as they were reduced for 50/3 and soon Bethell also departed to Rachin Ravindra. It was going to be a tough chase from there on and the New Zealand spinners were excellent and England needed 43 runs of the last three overs. Jacks and Rehan Ahmed scored 38 runs of the next two overs and chased down the target in the final over and won the game. Will Jacks was the player of the match for his terrific performance.