Five more days of World Cup group stage cricket ahead, with the circus going to Adelaide tomorrow: Zimbabwe play Netherlands first, before India take on Bangladesh in a massive game that evening local time.
We’ll have plenty of coverage across the Guardian over that time, so stay tuned. Jos Buttler is player of the match, and England win tonight in Brisbane. Till next time.
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What does it mean for the Group A table? It means that New Zealand, England and Australia each have five points, and are ranked in the order above thanks to net run rate. So New Zealand will still finish top if they beat Ireland, with a far superior rate. England can finish second if they beat Sri Lanka, but they could also be pushed to third if Australia can beat Afghanistan by enough to make up a net run rate deficit. Of course, should any of these teams lose their final match, they’re gone.
A brilliant night for Buttler, his 73 from 47 balls has him looking good ahead of the final round of matches. Hales did a job too with 52 from 40, including making the early running when Buttler was yet to launch. Livingstone’s 20 from 14 ended up being useful in the circumstances.
What England also did was take down New Zealand’s fast bowlers, who had been going so well. Each of Boult, Southee and Ferguson went for more than 40 from their four overs. 3 for 128 between them from 12 overs. It was the spinners who kept New Zealand in it, 2 for 48 from eight overs.
England’s quicks fared better: Wood 1 for 25 from three overs, Curran 2 for 26 from four, Woakes 2 for 33 from four. England’s spinners were also good though, Rashid creating a lot of the mid-innings squeeze, Livingstone doing a job, and for me, the early use of Moeen tilted the match: New Zealand weren’t expecting him to open the bowling and were thrown off balance. Phillips with 62 from 36 did his best to repair the damage, and Williamson did a job in going with him, but with 40 from 40 he needed to push the accelerator himself a bit harder.
England win by 20 runs!
What were you all so worried about, England supporters? I had a few near me who were on the verge of weeping when Phillips hit those sixes. But it was always a huge ask. England could have made their night more comfortable had the middle-innings batting backed up the opening partnership. New Zealand had the opposite problem – the opening batting basically tanked the innings before it had begun.
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20th over: New Zealand 159-6 (Santner 16, Sodhi 6) You’re not going to get 26 with Sodhi on strike. He misses the first one and pulls a single from the second, leaving Santner needing to hit the last four balls for six to go… dare we say it… “into the Super Over!” Santner does not hit the last four balls for six. He does get a wide form Curran, meaning that four sixes will win it. But he still does not hit them for six. He drives a couple, misses a bouncer, can’t hit the yorker, and basically Curran’s death bowling gets a free inspection and receives its certificate.
19th over: New Zealand 154-6 (Santner 13, Sodhi 5) Woakes with the ball to finish his night’s work: 2 for 20 off his first three overs. Santner hasn’t quite given up yet though. A couple of twos, a wide from what should be the last ball, and then Santner gets just enough on a baseball shot against the replacement delivery to clear long on for six. 26 needed off the last over.
18th over: New Zealand 139-6 (Santner 2, Sodhi 3) It was a good shot from Phillips to start against Curran, out to deep cover but it was well tapped back by Brook. That kept them to three runs and got Santner on strike, who took a single. Phillips falls next, and Ish Sodhi comes in to swing three runs of his own via a top edge. With 40 needed from two overs, this would take some losing for England.
WICKET! Phillips c sub b Curran 62 (36 balls), New Zealand 135-6
That’s the game! Phillips knows he has to take on Curran at some stage, and tries to do over long on. The super-sub, Jordan, is there. To be fair, his catches have been routine for a good fielder, and he’s replacing Livingstone who is also one of England’s best.
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WICKET! Mitchell c sub b Woakes 3 (5 balls), New Zealand 131-5
17th over: New Zealand 131-5 (Phillips 59) Now the runs dry up again, with Woakes from the Vulture Street End. Singles, a two, a drive back to the bowler. You can feel the pressure dialling up on Mitchell ball by ball, he knows he has to be the one to produce the special shot. By the sixth ball it’s almost a free hit for Mitchell, end of the over, wanting to leave Phillips on strike for the next and help the score balance, so he swings big, gets most of it down to long on, but not enough to clear Chris Jordan, England’s best substitute fielder, who as an extreme surprise is on the field near the end of a T20 International that he’s not playing in for the umpteenth time. 49 in 18 balls needed.
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16th over: New Zealand 123-4 (Phillips 57, Mitchell 0) Wood finishes a first-rate over, with pace at Daryl Mitchell who can’t score off either delivery he faces. Three runs and the key wicket from the over. New Zealand need 54 in 24.
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WICKET! Neesham c Curran b Wood 6 (3 balls), New Zealand 126-4
He didn’t waste any time, at least. Neesham sees Wood drop short and takes on the pull shot. More top than middle though, and Curran runs around a long way from deep midwicket towards deep square leg to take a good running catch. Brandishes the ball to the crowd!
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15th over: New Zealand 123-3 (Phillips 56, Neesham 4) First ball to the middle, last ball of the over, and Neesham pulls it for four! Fetches it from well outside the off stump, the left-hander. Through midwicket. Phillips had also pulled a boundary before the Williamson dismissal. Left-hand and right-hand combination at the crease too. Ten from the over. 57 needed in 30.
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WICKET! Williamson c Rashid b Stokes 40 (40 balls), New Zealand 119-3
Stokes into the game! Bowls a short ball that follows Williamson, who is trying to glide it past short third, but is surprised by the movement. Hits it finer than intended, to Rashid in that position. He was providing stability at a run a ball to support Phillips, but perhaps some power at the other end could be more useful in these last few overs? Jimmy Neesham to the crease.
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14th over: New Zealand 113-2 (Williamson 39, Phillips 51) Rashid comes back. Three overs for 16 runs so far. They’ve let him get away with far too much. And Phillips is of a like mind. Six! Getting back to the shorter ball, pulling it away over the fence. And for the first time tonight, he follows up a hit with another. Six more! As Rashid goes fuller to compensate, and Phillips drops to one knee and pulverises it into the stands. Places a brace to deep cover to follow. Singles after that. Fifty up for Phillips. The over costs 17 runs. New Zealand still need 67 off 36. Still a long way off.
13th over: New Zealand 96-2 (Williamson 37, Phillips 36) A few sneaky bonus runs for New Zealand: they run on a wide, then get an overthrow from a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Can’t latch onto Curran though, despite a couple of Phillips attempts. Eight off the over with no boundary. 84 in 42 needed.
The attendance for tonight, per earlier discussions, is 22,547. That’s more than half for the Gabba, a good result. A lot of New Zealanders in Queensland, which probably helps.
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12th over: New Zealand 86-2 (Williamson 34, Phillips 30) Mark Wood is back, off that long run from the Stanley Street End. A clip from Phillips, who smartly runs back for two. So Wood sends down a bouncer that Phillips evades. That might be the length, because when Wood pitches up again, Phillips drives him for six! What a shot that is. North of 90 miles an hour inbound, and about as quickly outbound, via a simple swing of the bat that plonks it among the spectators at long on. Only four runs from the other five balls though. 94 runs needed at 48.
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11th over: New Zealand 76-2 (Williamson 34, Phillips 21) There’s a symbolic one for you. Livingstone bowls a fat, dripping full toss, and Williamson tucks it through midwicket for two. Just haven’t had the foot down as required tonight, New Zealand. Phillips gets another and drives it down the ground for one. He has more luck from his accidental shots: an outside edge that beats the keeper and short third for four, then a top edged sweep that gets him two. Ten off the over is better, but fortune can claim most of them.
10th over: New Zealand 66-2 (Williamson 29, Phillips 16) Rashid’s wet-blanket routine continues, smothering the scoring by landing on a good length, and eventually the pressure tells. Phillips has a gallop, has a swing, slices it up to cover… and Moeen drops the catch. Another simple one down at the Gabba. There is a low ring of lights here, down under the roof level, and they might be on an angle to get in players’ eyes. We’ve seen some straightforward ones dropped by good fielders. Still, only four off the over, and New Zealand have batted themselves into a hole. Williamson 29 off 29, and they need nearly 12 an over, 114 off 60 balls.
9th over: New Zealand 62-2 (Williamson 27, Phillips 14) Set and forget for Liam Livingstone: just keeps bowling fast and on a length, and Williamson and Phillips keep getting on the front foot to tap a run or two to the off side. Until the last ball, that is, when Williamson gets a stride in and throws his hands through the ball. Lovely placement, beating the deep extra cover sweeper to the square side for four. Nine off the over, still below the required rate. 118 needed in 66.
8th over: New Zealand 53-2 (Williamson 20, Phillips 12) Another good over of spin, Adil Rashid on the money and the Kiwis only work a run a ball. They have to get moving. They need 127 runs from 12 overs, or 72 balls.
7th over: New Zealand 47-2 (Williamson 17, Phillips 9) Stokes is back on the field after getting checked up on. Livingstone bowls his liquorice allsorts spin, looks like leg-breaks to the right-handers tonight. Fast and skiddy and tight on the stumps, and mostly a bit short, drawing plenty of cut shots. Nobody middles one until Phillips from the last ball of the over, behind point for four, but that’s after Buttler has missed a catch off Phillips that hits the keeper on his body.
6th over: New Zealand 40-2 (Williamson 15, Phillips 4) That’s skill from Williamson. Mark Wood bowling, seriously fast, full and straight and Williamson clips it off his toes, square enough to beat the deep fine leg into the fence. Phillips is much less convincing, going the other side of that fine leg fielder via an inside edge. The radar is tracking Mark Wood at 155 kilometres per hour. The readings have been slightly on the generous side through this tournament, we’ve had half a dozen bowlers over 150 supposedly, which stretches credulity. But he is bowling rapidly, whatever the measure.
5th over: New Zealand 28-2 (Williamson 8) Again the wicket falls from the last ball of an over, and it concedes only two runs. They’re just about out of this already, New Zealand. Wickets can happen, but it’s been an awful start in terms of run rate.
WICKET! Allen c Stokes b Curran 16 (11 balls), New Zealand 28-2
That’s the big one. Allen is the player who can carve off a huge chunk of a chase in quick time, and he’s gone for relatively few. Swings across the line at Curran, regulation to Stokes trotting in from deep midwicket, though Stokes looks like he may have hurt his index finger taking the catch. He comes off the field and Chris Jordan replaces him.
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4th over: New Zealand 26-1 (Allen 15, Williamson 7) Well, I was wondering where that Finn Allen was who took apart Australia to start the tournament. There’s a sighting of him here, with a huge pick-up shot over midwicket that eludes Harry Brook for six. That’s the power, then Williamson has the clever touch, waiting on a short ball and pulling it fine behind square for four. A dozen from Woakes.
3rd over: New Zealand 14-1 (Allen 8, Williamson 2) More spin in the Powerplay, with Adil Rashid brought on early. That works as well: Allen’s reverse hit for three is the only high-yield shot in the over, with six from it all up.
2nd over: New Zealand 8-1 (Allen 4) So that’s another win for England across the first two overs, with Kane Williamson heading to the middle to start the third.
WICKET! Conway c Buttler b Woakes 3 (9 balls), New Zealand 8-1
There’s the early one they needed! Chris Woakes bowls a poor ball, half-tracker on leg stump. Conway for reasons best known to himself decides to ramp it rather than baseball it out of the ground. He gets it very fine and Buttler dives across and makes up good ground to take the catch.
Or does he? There’s an umpire check before Conway leaves the ground. On the replay you can’t see if the ball hits the ground as Buttler lands, because his gloves were in the way. But he pretty much just gets up and lobs the ball back to the umpire rather than celebrating. There’s no visual of ball hitting ground, so the catch stands. Something feels a bit out of kilter about all of that.
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1st over: New Zealand 4-0 (Allen 3, Conway 1) Here’s a surprise from Buttler: Moeen Ali opens the bowling. And it foxes New Zealand. They’re not expecting this. He bowls an outstanding over too, nearly getting Conway stumped with width, then burrowing one off the inside edge into pad, could have been caught or gone back onto the stumps. Only four runs from it! Early advantage England.
Tom van der Gucht writes in. “It’s interesting what you were saying about England looking better on paper than in the flesh at the moment. It got me thinking about how quickly form can change within this format: two weeks ago, England were on a roll after dismantling Pakistan at home and taking down the Aussies in their own backyard only for the wheels to come off since.
“My general theory about cricket is that whatever hasn’t happened or hasn’t happened for a while is due to happen at some point, especially so in T20. This vaguely formed and nebulous spiritual cricketing philosophy became more solid in my mind during the test match summer when England kept beating the odds. According to my theory, NZ are due a loss and England as due a big win. Today, hopefully, will be that day it happens.”
I think I’m with you. Form is massively overstated, especially in this format, and gets confused with what is simply results. Good form and bad form does exist, but every streak of good or bad results gets classified as form.
“Good morning from a rainy Manchester, Geoff,” writes Matt Hobbs. A great city, send it my best. “An element of irony to that run chase, in my opinion. England were criticised for retaining their batting order against Ireland and yet left themselves short of a finisher or two in the dying moments after shunting Ali and Livingstone up.
“Stokes will have to bowl/field his socks off if the gamble in bringing him back into the T20 side isn’t going to look more unnecessary than it already does. Is it time for Adil Rashid to shrug off indifferent form and shine? Let’s hope so!”
Ladka emails in. “G’day Geoff. Has Australia really fallen out of love with cricket? I know AFL is big but these crowds have been quite shocking. Resembled English county grounds. Hopefully Buttler and Hales can take the game away from the Kiwis.”
Well, they kinda did. And looking out the window at the Gabba tonight, sure, I can see a lot of those seats with their distinctive vomitorium colour scheme, but it’s a huge ground and a very solid crowd in tonight. I’ll see if we get the official numbers later.
Drawing massive home audiences to neutral group was never especially likely, unless the likes of Sri Lanka or India are playing with big diaspora fanbases. So, no concerns from me about this crowd. Some of the other games have had far smaller ones, but again, a Bangladesh-Zimbabwe match isn’t going to be the biggest drawcard in town.
So a good score for England, but they didn’t take advantage of the start that Buttler and Hales gave them. They lost 4 for 23 in those last few overs, and it took the pace out of the innings even as Buttler was doing his utmost to keep it up. His run out at the non-striker’s end was more than a little symbolic.
Still! 180 is 180, it’s a tall task and it will take a big performance from New Zealand to keep being the only unbeaten team in the group.
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20th over: England 179-6 (Curran 6, Malan 3) Quite the over. A two and a one as Stokes swings and can’t get much of either. Curran does get hold of one! With Ferguson’s pace, the shot over midwicket beats the diving Santner on the rope and is parried over. It was going the distance anyway. But Curran doesn’t get another swing, because he gets a beamer and almost falls over evading it, then is called through for a bye. But Stokes can only get two runs from the free hit, a yorker well bowled, and then is out to the next one. Dawid Malan comes out after being bumped all the way down the order and clips the last ball for three, scrambling up and back and New Zealand keep misfielding. That’s a strike rate of 300 for the maligned first drop.
And there’s that target of 180 for New Zealand. Game on.
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WICKET! Stokes lbw Ferguson 8 (6 balls), England 176-6
Stokes just about walks for that one. On the back boot in front of middle stump. But team policy apparently requires a review. He’s as out as he looked.
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19th over: England 163-5 (Stokes 3, Curran 0) After that malarkey, Stokes nudges a single to midwicket. With eight balls to go. In a T20 innings.
Curran seems to understand the format better. Has a heave, misses it, but gave it a go.
WICKET! Buttler run out 73 (47 balls), England 162-5
What a passage of play that is! People have said that Ben Stokes needs to have an influence on England’s campaign, and he has here. Nails his cleanest shot of the tournament, lacing Southee, but straight at cover. Williamson stops the rocket, then has the presence of mind to hurl the throw to Southee near the stumps. Southee manages to catch that rocket, low and one handed, and swings his arm backhanded into the stumps. And Buttler is short of his ground! Backing up too far to regain safe territory. England’s best player of the night has been done in.
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WICKET! Brook c Allen b Southee 7 (3 balls), England 160-4
What else can you do? Two overs to go, so Harry Brook pumps one six over long on, then gets caught on the rope trying another. Fair deuce.
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18th over: England 154-3 (Buttler 73, Brook 1) Only six from the Ferguson over, including the four that Livingstone lapped before the one who got him out.
Robert Lewis says he used to work in a West End pub (that’s the Brisbane version of West End) and is now writing from sunny Istanbul. “How many do you reckon England need to be able to get the vital win here?”
At least 180 to feel comfortable, with New Zealand’s power up top. But of course much lower scores can be defended with early wickets.
WICKET! Livingstone b Ferguson 20 (14 balls), England 153-3
So the elevations of Moeen and Livingstone haven’t set the game alight, though the latter did offer something. He moves across in attempting a lap shot at Ferguson, who is too fast and bursts through the shot and the stumps.
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17th over: England 148-2 (Buttler 72, Livingstone 16) Add a near run-out to Livingstone’s list, sprinting in at the non-striker’s end to beat Boult in taking the bails. A direct hit would have had him. But that brings Buttler on strike, and he simply flat-bats Boult down the ground and over the small sightscreen. Boult ends up conceding 11 off the over, and 0 for 40 from his night. Pop a tick in that column for England.
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16th over: England 137-2 (Buttler 64, Livingstone 13) A decent start for Southee in the over, but from the fifth ball Livingstone finally gets onto one. Higher than it is long, but it’s plenty long enough, a straightforward swing over midwicket that ends up in the seats. Then another miscue that’s nearly caught, landing in between cover and long off in another lucky break for England. A dozen from the over.
15th over: England 125-2 (Buttler 61, Livingstone 4) No such problems against pace! Buttler absolutely hammers Boult dead straight, and a younger Tim Southee might once have sprinted across to save that, but this version didn’t look entirely keen to take off with the afterburners blazing. Four runs there, four more from a pull shot to a ball that isn’t super short. Livingstone is nearly caught from a skied top edge, but again Williamson running back from cover can’t reach it. Boult tries the slower bouncer to end the over and keeps Livingstone to one.
14th over: England 110-2 (Buttler 50, Livingstone 1) It is Livingstone to come in next… and he pokes around for three balls to get off strike against Sodhi. Buttler drives a single to raise his fifty, but only two runs from the wicket-taking over. New Zealand’s spinners have gone for 48 from 48 balls and taken two wickets along the way.
WICKET! Moeen Ali c Boult b Sodhi 5 (6 balls), England 108-2
Well, Moeen was there to hit the leg-spinner, so he hits the leg-spinner. A long way, to be fair. High into the night. But the deep midwicket pocket at the Gabba just gives Trent Boult enough room to move around the rope and hold the catch just inside the boundary, in front of a pocket of New Zealand fans.
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13th over: England 108-1 (Buttler 49, Moeen 5) Big moment: Ferguson comes back on, fast and short and hooked by Buttler, flat to deep midwicket, where Daryl Mitchell drops the catch! It was travelling, but it was straight at him, hits his hands so hard that it bounces off. The crowd groans and exults in equal measure. And Buttler cashes in: a flat smack over mid off for four, then a tennis forehand against a slower bouncer, reading it and waiting to flip it over mid on. Add that to the boundary that he started the over with, another down to mid off, and he takes 14 from the lucky over.
12th over: England 94-1 (Buttler 36, Moeen 4) Sodhi to Buttler, carbon copy of the previous over: the tucked two, the reversed four. This time the boundary is more top edge than middle. Once Moeen gets on strike he doesn’t try anything huge, just dinks a couple to midwicket into the large gap there. Can’t beat point with his attempted cut.
11th over: England 85-1 (Buttler 29, Moeen 2) Moeen sent to the crease rather than Livingstone, presumably given there are spinners operating. That’s despite Livingstone spending the drinks break running the boundary line like Rocky, swinging his bat furiously to warm up. Four singles from the over after the early boundary. And the wicket ball wasn’t called a wide after all, which seems… well, incorrect, at least.
Also great to spend the drinks break watching some capering characters on the video screen showing us how to use the bottle recycling machines brought to us by Aramco – from memory, the oil company responsible for 4.4% of all human carbon emissions since 1965.
WICKET! Hales st Conway b Santner 52 (40 balls), England 81-1
One ball after raising his fifty with a nick to the boundary, Hales can’t survive the next mistake. Fast and very wide from Santner, outside the tram tracks, and a charging Hales can’t get the toe of the bat to it. Conway beats him home, and the ball is called wide but you can still get out to one of them…
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10th over: England 77-0 (Buttler 27, Hales 48) More initiative from Buttler against Sodhi this time, walking at him to flick two runs to leg, then reversing four over backward point. Now when they tuck singles they’re doing it off a scoring base for the over. Ten off it. Drinks break, because of course it is. And Liam Livingstone is padded up.
9th over: England 67-0 (Buttler 19, Hales 46) Santner has a change of ends to bowl with Stanley Street at his back, twinning up with Sodhi, and he bowls really well to begin with. A fast one to beat Hales on the advance, then one that turns past the edge as Hales stays back. A couple of singles, then Hales drives two to deep cover. Another great over to back up Sodhi’s.
8th over: England 61-0 (Buttler 18, Hales 41) More spin, with Ish Sodhi’s leg-breaks from the Vulture Street End. Caution from Hales to start, tucking a sharp single where a direct hit might have had Buttler struggling. Three runs from the over, two from the bat.
7th over: England 58-0 (Buttler 18, Hales 39) This is the good England today. Lockie Ferguson comes on, bowling right-arm rapid, and Buttler knows how to deal with that. Gets in position, plays the ramp shot, and sends it for six! A few singles round out the over.
6th over: England 48-0 (Buttler 8, Hales 37) Almost a blinder from Williamson! Buttler backs away and slashes Santner over the off side. Williamson runs back with the flight of the ball and dives full length. Gets it in both hands, spills into the air, and it hits the ground as he lands before bouncing back into his hands while he slides forward. He gets up and signals to the umpire that it might be a catch but he isn’t sure. They check the replay and confirm the bobble off the grass. Most surprisingly, England didn’t even take a run. Buttler had just started walking off. The over ends up costing eight runs, with a Hales pull for four.
End of the Powerplay, Hales has made it a great one for England.
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5th over: England 40-0 (Buttler 8, Hales 31) Whomp! Hales decides to flick the switch. Skips out a little to make room and flat-bats Southee down the ground for six. Misses the next ball, then cracks two in a row over cover for four! The second flatter and faster than the first, just above the hands of the leaping fielder. Hales backing away to make room, that’s serious hand-eye ability as he swings through the line of those balls. Southee manages to defuse the situation from the last two balls and avoid a truly massive over.
4th over: England 25-0 (Buttler 8, Hales 16) Time to tempt and test England with spin… and Mitchell Santner does an excellent job! The left-armer spears the ball through, racing through his over before Hales can blink. After a Buttler single, it takes four balls for Hales to get off strike via a leg bye. Buttler follows by dropping two in the leg side.
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3rd over: England 21-0 (Buttler 5, Hales 16) That’s what England needs! Some audacity from Hales. The ball isn’t exactly overpitched from Boult, it’s just slightly on the fuller side, but Hales stands still, gets under it, and lifts it over mid off for four. It flips an otherwise excellent over that has only conceded one from the first five balls.
2nd over: England 16-0 (Buttler 4, Hales 12) That’s two obstacles negotiated: the opening over from each of the New Zealand quicks. Southee doesn’t produce his very best, giving Hales a shorter ball to shovel away via a pragmatic pull shot for four. Then taps two more to the other side of the pitch.
1st over: England 9-0 (Buttler 3, Hales 6) Trent Boult to start off, the left-armer swinging the ball into the right-handed Buttler., who misses the first ball but clips the next for three along the ground to midwicket, saved by a sliding Mitchell. “Best start by an England opener at the Gabba in the last 12 months,” comes the dry aside from next to me. Hales gets some luck with an inside edge to fine leg for four. Follows up by using the full face, two runs through cover.
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The anthems roll around the Gabba, still daylight over the ground as the teams line up in front of their flags. Feel free to drop me a line anytime tonight: email is geoff.lemon@theguardian.com or @GeoffLemonSport on Twitter.
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Teams
Unchanged for England from their Ireland loss.
England
Jos Buttler * +
Alex Hales
Dawid Malan
Ben Stokes
Harry Brook
Moeen Ali
Liam Livingstone
Sam Curran
Chris Woakes
Adil Rashid
Mark Wood
New Zealand
Finn Allen
Devon Conway +
Kane Williamson *
Glenn Phillips
Daryl Mitchell
James Neesham
Mitchell Santner
Tim Southee
Ish Sodhi
Trent Boult
Lockie Ferguson
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England win the toss and bat
That is an interesting call from Jos Buttler. England are often so good chasing, knowing what is ahead of them and mowing it down. But he says that with a used surface, they want to set a total. It may also have to do with avoiding Boult and Southee under lights, when swing may be more pronounced. So it will be Buttler and Hales to the middle in half an hour.
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Preamble
Hello around the world from a very pleasant evening at the Gabba, as England’s T20 World Cup hopes hang in the balance. Heavy rain this morning had some people worried, but in Brisbane the rain tends to pass through quickly, and the skies were clear and sunny by the afternoon. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have just played out their match without trouble, and the two teams for the evening fixture are warming up in the late daylight.
New Zealand can lock in top spot with a win tonight, and the way they have been going, who would argue against them? If it isn’t Finn Allen and Devon Conway making runs at the top of the order, it’s Tim Southee and Trent Boult wrecking teams with the new ball.
England, meanwhile, staggered to a win over Afghanistan and lost to Ireland, while evading Australia thanks to a washout. They’re an excellent team on paper while looking less convincing on grass in the last couple of weeks. Tonight is when they need to turn all that around. With a spot of paraphrasing, fearless cricket has been the mantra of the modern England white-ball team. They’ll need some.
