WATCH: Cricket World Cup 2019 – England v New Zealand highlights

Jonny Bairstow England New Zealand World Cup PA

1814 BST: New Zealand 186 – ENGLAND WIN BY 119 RUNS
England have firmly answered the questions about their ticker, cruising to victory here on the back of their win over India on Sunday. England now have the Q next to their name and cannot be overtaken in third place. New Zealand will finish fourth, miracles notwithstanding…

WICKET! Trent Boult st Buttler b Rashid 4 (7b, 1×4, SR: 57.14)
That’s that, then. Rashid spins one past Boult and Buttler’s swift work has the Zings flashing before New Zealand’s number 11 can get his foot back where it ought to be. A huge win for England – their fourth of the tournament by a 100+ run margin – and they are through to a World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston against India (probably) or Australia.

1809 BST: New Zealand 181/9 (44 overs)
England might win this I reckon.

WICKET! Matt Henry b Wood 7 (13b, SR: 53.84)
Henry tries to drive Wood over the offside from square-leg while not looking at the ball, with predictable results.

1805 BST: New Zealand 180/8 (43 overs)
We didn’t do an update for three overs there. Sorry about that. You didn’t miss much. Rashid bowled a quite good googly just now. Just missed leg stump.

1755 BST: New Zealand 171/8 (40 overs)
England still flinging themselves around the boundary, Root this time saving a run as Henry gets off the mark in good style with a thumping drive through the covers.

WICKET! Mitchell Santner lbw b Wood 12 (30b, 1×4, SR: 40.00)
Santner walks across his stumps and is hit plumb in front. Desperation review, but nothing is going to have him. No inside edge, and three red lights. It’s lucky Nicholls didn’t risk Santner not being able to review that.

1747 BST: New Zealand 166/7 (39 overs)
Plunkett’s eight overs today have brought him 1/28. Remember when England kept leaving him out?

WICKET! Tom Latham c Buttler b Plunkett 57 (65b, 5×4, SR: 87.69)
Latham’s vigil comes to a tame end, utterly deceived by a slower-ball bouncer from Plunkett and gloving the ball gently through to Buttler.

1742 BST: New Zealand 164/6 (38 overs)
Eleven from the over, Latham whipping a four through midwicket and Santner driving on the up through cover. Woakes a touch annoyed at the damage to his figures, but of greater concern may be the fact that Bairstow appears to have injured his shoulder trying to prevent a boundary that, with the best will in the world, simply doesn’t matter.

1738 BST: New Zealand 153/6 (37 overs)
Stokes through five overs for just 10 runs and a wicket. England do now have the luxury of bowling their lesser bowlers for the rest of this innings and give the likes of Woakes, Archer and Wood a break.

1736 BST: Tom Latham 50* (57b, 4×4, SR: 87.71)
He’s more than doubled his runs tally for the tournament. Was racing along early in his innings but it’s been a battle for quite some time now. Had 35 from 25 at one point – 32 balls for the next 15 runs.

1734 BST: New Zealand 151/6 (36 overs)
Santner races to six from 23 with a flip over midwicket. Wood slides into the ropes to prevent the boundary. Admirable commitment, but questionable given the game is very much over.

1731 BST: New Zealand 147/6 (35 overs)
Just a single from Stokes’ over to take Latham to 48. The game is meandering. Needs more streakers.

1726 BST: New Zealand 146/6 (34 overs)
There’s a streaker. The game has reached that stage. Latham, though, is approaching a 50 that will mean little to the game but plenty to him.

1716 BST: New Zealand 139/6 (33 overs)
To be fair, you wouldn’t put it past Pakistan to somehow break the laws of mathematics. You just never know what they might do when major tournaments come around.

1710 BST: New Zealand 136/6 (32 overs)
New Zealand appear to be in full NRR protection mode here. They needn’t be. Someone tell them at drinks.

1702 BST: New Zealand 132/6 (30 overs)
ODIs are great these days. Clearly. The exception is when a run-chase gets derailed as badly and as early as this one did. Funny at the time, sure, but then you’re left with two hours of going through the motions where everyone knows the result. You also have two quite dull hours to sit through when South Africa are left with a chase of 120, which they will always achieve one wicket down at four an over, bless them.

1658 BST: New Zealand 130/6 (29 overs)
Slats on commentary trying to talk up the prospect of some NRR drama with New Zealand and Pakistan. It’s a bold effort, but a forlorn one.

WICKET! Colin de Grandhomme c Root b Stokes 3 (13b, SR: 23.07)
Local hero Ben Stokes into the attack, and strikes with his very first ball. Just a short loosener really, but de Grandhomme has swatted it straight down Root’s throat at deep square-leg.

1652 BST: New Zealand 128/5 (28 overs)
The required rate climbs beyond eight. New Zealand will still qualify for the semi-finals – the NRR miracle will not materialise, Pakistan fans – but they are hitting the knockouts in woeful form. Especially with the bat. It’s going to be three successive defeats going into the semi-final against, probably, Australia. Not ideal.

1649 BST: New Zealand 126/5 (27 overs)
No middle-over wickets yet for Plunkett, but his economy rate is sensational once again. Just 26 runs from his seven overs thus far.

1645 BST: New Zealand 124/5 (26 overs)
New Zealand were 123 for 5 there for a couple of balls. Always good.

WICKET! James Neesham b Wood 19 (27b, 1×4, SR: 70.37)
That’s the end of the drifting. Wood switches round the wicket and immediately the change of angle does for Neesham who chops the ball into the off stump.

1638 BST: New Zealand 123/4 (25 overs)
Latham is back in form now, so that’s something for New Zealand ass they stumble shambolically into the last four.

1634 BST: New Zealand 115/4 (24 overs)
This game is just sort of drifting now. The sort of thing where it might accidentally drift to the point where we start pretending New Zealand are just getting back into it but actually they aren’t.

1625 BST: New Zealand 104/4 (22 overs)
England trying to race through a few overs of spin here, but it’s actually got Neesham and Latham going – they’ve added 35 in quick time here. Neesham picks up a boundary here, cracking a short ball from Root to the point boundary

1623 BST: New Zealand 97/4 (21 overs)
Root and Rashid racing through their overs here. Latham making a mockery of his dreadful form at the tournament thus far by racing to 20 from 12. Thumps a second boundary off Rashid.

1618 BST: New Zealand 84/4 (19 overs)
Decent enough first over from Adil Rashid until the last ball, which is dragged down outside off and gratefully slapped for four by Latham.

1614 BST: New Zealand 75/4 (18 overs)
The thing when you’re chasing quite a big total is to not have your two best batsmen run out in the space of 10 minutes.

WICKET! Ross Taylor run out (Rashid/Buttler) 28 (42b, 2×4, SR: 66.67)
Well that is insane. The run out of Williamson very much just One Of Those Things. No blame, no foul. But this is just mental. Taylor takes a ridiculous second run and is caught short by two feet. Ian Smith describes it as “nonsensical” which is both correct and an enormously fun thing to say in a New Zealand accent.

1605 BST: New Zealand 68/3 (16 overs)
Great pull shot from Taylor gets him four through midwicket but that over will not be remembered for Taylor’s pull shot.

WICKET! Kane Williamson run out (Wood) 27 (40b, 3×4, SR: 67.50)
That’s a huge moment. Huge and hilarious. Taylor drives the ball straight back at Wood, who gets the slightest touch to deflect the ball into the stumps with Williamson out of his ground. What a way to get the big fish. My word.

1555 BST: New Zealand 61/2 (15 overs)
Exactly seven an over now for New Zealand after another standard four-run (plus a leg-bye) Plunkett over.

1551 BST: New Zealand 56/2 (14 overs)
Good short ball from Wood gives Williamson the hurry-up. Fends it into the legside, but it’s perfectly safe.

1547 BST: New Zealand 51/2 (13 overs)
Just singles again from Plunkett. There’s no great mystery to what Plunkett does, but he’s just so effective and so consistent.

1543 BST: New Zealand 47/2 (12 overs)
Bit of a wild start for Wood on his home ground, beginning with a wide down the legside and then offering Williamson width to punch a glorious shot through point off the back foot. Finishes the over better than he starts it, though.

1538 BST: New Zealand 40/2 (11 overs)
Three singles from Plunkett’s first over, all dabbed down to third-man. Required rate nudging up towards seven, and New Zealand cannot afford to let it climb much higher based on all we’ve seen so far today.

1534 BST: New Zealand 37/2 (10 overs)
Better couple of overs for New Zealand and there really is no getting away from the fact this partnership is the absolute key. Both Williamson and Taylor nail drives, but Archer reminds the batsmen of his qualities with a short one that thuds into Taylor’s gloves as he fends it away. Despite those boundaries, though, it is very much ENGLAND’S PHASE.

1526 BST: New Zealand 21/2 (8 overs)
If New Zealand’s best/only hope was to get up and ahead of the rate early doors, they are jiggered.

1522 BST: New Zealand 20/2 (7 overs)
Genius from Williamson, to be fair. Perfectly decent ball from Woakes, but Williamson steers it deliberately between keeper and the wide slip for four. That 32% looks unlikely to fall much today.

1518 BST: New Zealand 16/2 (6 overs)
Thick edge from Williamson flies safely down to third-man for a single. One more wicket with the new ball and you’d think this is done.

WICKET! Martin Guptill c Buttler b Archer 8 (16b, 1×4 SR: 50.00)
Oh what a catch! Fast and down the legside from Archer, and going further off Guptill’s glove. But Buttler’s initial footwork is superb and then the big dive and a left-handed grab does the rest. Guptill’s poor trot continues and both openers have gone inside the first six overs. Not for the first time, it’s Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor with a rescue job for New Zealand…

1513 BST: New Zealand 13/1 (5 overs)
More like it from Guptill, driving a half-volley from Woakes straight back past the bowler for the first boundary of the innings. Been in rotten form since the opening game but everything looked in good order there.

1508 BST: New Zealand 7/1 (4 overs)
If New Zealand’s plan was to get up with and ahead of the rate early doors, it has not yet come to pass. As against India the other day, Woakes and Archer have made a superb start.

1505 BST: New Zealand 7/1 (3 overs)
Kane Williamson has scored 32% of New Zealand’s runs in this tournament, which is just extraordinary. Especially when you consider he didn’t even get a bat in the first game as Guptill and Munro chased down Sri Lanka’s 136 without loss.

1501 BST: New Zealand 4/1 (2 overs)
Tough start for New Zealand anyway. Especially when we have to consider that this is probably the easiest time to bat.

1457 BST: New Zealand 2/1 (1 over)
Sure enough, Hawk-Eye reveals that ball was clearing the bails and would’ve been overturned on review. Always looked like a free review – umpire’s call at the absolute worst – and you wonder whether Nicholls just didn’t have the confidence to risk using up the review on himself so early in the innings.

WICKET! Henry Nicholls lbw b Woakes 0 (1b)
Woakes strikes in his first over! Guptill off the mark with a single, but Nicholls is struck on the pads first ball. Stuck on the crease but your first thought is that height’s a factor. Hit him above the knee-roll. Long chat with Guptill – and too long as it turns out. The DRS countdown hits zero and Nicholls has to go. Had to be worth a review, surely, but there’s big pressure on a batsman taking a review in the very first over. Remarkably, that is the fourth time in this tournament that New Zealand have lost a wicket in the first over.

1450 BST: Here we go, then. Can England reach their first World Cup semi-final since 1992?

1423 BST: England 305/8 (50 overs)
A superb last 20 overs from New Zealand, England failing even to score a run a ball across that period having been 194/1 at the 30-over mark. England commit the baffling cricketing sin of just taking the single rather than continuing to run when the ball goes into the deep from the final ball of the innings. Are Plunkett and Archer really that bothered about their ODI batting stats? A lot depends on whether New Zealand fully commit to the run-chase early – you’d think based on what we’ve seen they need to at the very least get up with the rate against the new balls.

WICKET! Adil Rashid b Southee 16 (12b, 1×4, SR: 133.33)
Perfect yorker from Southee to end Rashid’s Handy Little Cameo. England do have their 300, though.

1416 BST: England 299/7 (49 overs)
USEFUL RUNS. HANDY RUNS. UNUSUAL AREAS. LATE FLURRY. PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIER. VALUABLE RUNS. Rashid in-to-outs a drive over cover for four before collecting a single to third-man. Plunkett heaves a four legside and then scampers two more for a similar shot. Couple of singles to end the over, Rashid’s something that looks more like it belongs in SW19 than Chester-le-Street as Henry suffers some late punishment,

1411 BST: England 286/7 (48 overs)
Rashid has the greatest range of shots in the game, don’t @ me. Plays three insane shots in this over, sending near identical deliveries in the air to extra-cover and long-on for a pair of twos and then, most outrageously, to short third-man for a single. The relative lack of reward in the run column for this insanely inventive batting only adds to the charm.

1405 BST: England 277/7 (47 overs)
Plunkett and Rashid scramble five runs from the rest of the over. England were 205/2 with 18 overs to go; whatever the pitch is or isn’t doing it’s a remarkable fightback from New Zealand. Worth remembering as well that all the pressure later will be on England: New Zealand don’t need to win this game.

WICKET! Eoin Morgan c Santner b Henry 42 (40b)
And no sooner does Morgan get going than he is dismissed, chipping Henry straight to cover where Santner juggles but holds on. Now a genuine scrap to get up to 300 for England’s bowlers. The number of batsmen who have now been dismissed chipping the ball to infielders – Roy, Buttler, Morgan – does suggest the pitch not as true as we maybe thought. I don’t know. But think we’ll see plenty of cutters and such from England’s bowlers later. If the pitch really is slowing up as much as England’s stalled progress and the nature of the dismissals suggests, then this was a huge toss for England to win and a final total of 290-odd will be fine. But if New Zealand get a start anything like England’s…

1401 BST: England 272/6 (46 overs)
Big over for England, and how they needed it. Morgan ends a 56-ball wait for a boundary with a drive over mid-off off the returning Boult. Couple of singles follow before a pump down the ground brings two before a pull shot comes right out of the middle this time to find the boundary behind square-leg. Morgan keeps the strike with a single, and that’s got the crowd going again. Thirteen from the over.

1356 BST: England 259/6 (45 overs)
Superb spell from Neesham comes to an end. He finishes with 2/41; he and Boult have really stuffed England in the last hour or so.

WICKET! Chris Woakes c Williamson b Neesham 4 (10b, SR: 40.00)
Just not happening at all for England since the 30th over. Astonishing slow-death collapse this.

1350 BST: England 254/5 (44 overs)
Santner is done, dragging his figures back pretty well at the end there to finish with 1/65. England took a scarcely credible 74 balls to go from 200 to 250. Could yet prove to be the spell that ends their World Cup chances. Although it is also worth noting that there has been only one successful chase of 300+ in this tournament so far and that New Zealand have not made a single score in excess of 300. This a better pitch than most they’ve seen, though.

1347 BST: England 249/5 (43 overs)
Just a single from Neesham’s over. A low-key spell, but a brilliant one from the all-rounder, who is now through nine overs for just 36 runs. Pace off the ball been a surprisingly good option.

1342 BST: England 248/5 (42 overs)
Some chat on commentary about this pitch perhaps slowing down. I just think England have batted poorly after a great start. This pitch still seems pretty flat.

WICKET! Ben Stokes c Henry b Santner 11 (27b, SR: 40.74)
The mounting frustration does for Stokes, who just never got going here and holes out to Henry at long-on. England going to be way, way short of where the start should have got them; even 300 not an absolute certainty from 248/5 with just eight overs to go.

1338 BST: England 246/4 (41 overs)
You almost sense that New Zealand – like the crowd – are waiting for an onslaught that is still yet to materialise. England are a much better side with Plunkett in for Moeen, no doubt, but it does slightly reduce their batting options and the freedom to just keep hitting in situations like this.

1334 BST: England 241/4 (40 overs)
Scruffy over from Santner to release the pressure. Big wide down the legside, a long-hop that Morgan cuts away for two and a full-toss to finish that Morgan sweeps past short fine-leg for a much-needed boundary. Still just 47/3 in that 10-over phase, which you’d have to say is a New Zealand win.

1330 BST: England 232/4 (39 overs)
England’s run-rate drops below a run a ball for the first time in the innings. Innings stalling as this one has has been a curious feature of this World Cup.

1326 BST: England 229/4 (38 overs)
England going nowhere right now. Stokes and Morgan both generally slow starters more than capable of catching up at the back end, but both also hamstrung by the fact England can’t really afford to lose another wicket right now.

1322 BST: England 226/4 (37 overs)
Pressure building on England here. Maiden over from Neesham to Stokes ends with the batsman desperate to burgle a single and a “Yes-No” call that strands Morgan, who would have been short had Santner’s throw hit the target.

1318 BST: England 226/4 (36 overs)
Morgan gets four off the short ball this time, but it’s not convincing. Coming off the top of the bat near the gloves and only just evading Latham. Gets him going, though, and back-cuts the next one for four with real authority.

1314 BST: England 218/4 (35 overs)
The wicket was a knuckle-ball from Boult, and the bat turned in Buttler’s hand as he miscued his shot. Williamson had also positioned himself quite cleverly at mid-off, slightly wider than normal. Buttler likes to hit slightly in to out and might have been just trying to hit that ball straighter than he instinctively would. New Zealand are back in this, but Boult has only two overs left.

WICKET! Jos Buttler c Williamson b Boult 11 (12b)
England are stalling here now, and New Zealand are right back in it on this flat, flat pitch. Three quick wickets, and this the biggest of them as Buttler slaps Boult to Williamson at mid-off for just 11.

1308 BST: England 214/3 (34 overs)
Brief moment of reassessment from England after that double breakthrough for New Zealand. It will need to be brief, because this looks much the flattest pitch England have played on in the tournament to date. They will want at least 340 to feel truly comfortable.

1304 BST: England 211/3 (33 overs)
Ian Smith sums up the current situation here perfectly. “New Zealand might have just opened the door here. The problem is that Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan or Ben Stokes might walk through it.”

1259 BST: England 206/3 (32 overs)
Henry finishes the over with two short balls to Eoin Morgan, to the surprise of literally nobody.

WICKET! Jonny Bairstow b Henry 106 (99b, 15×4, 1×6, SR: 107.07)
Hundred and out again. Becoming the theme of the week, but let’s focus on the hundred. Brilliant innings, and he did look determined not to get bogged down this time. Creamed Henry through the covers for four and added two more for a clip off his hip before dragging the ball into his stumps. Does just open the door for New Zealand to at least contain England to something vaguely manageable, but only just.

1250 BST: England 200/2 (31 overs)
It’s Buttler time with 19.5 overs to go. Given he’s a T20 opener these days, that’s probably about right innit. Straight into his work with a drive through cover for four and then a scampered two to long-leg that brings up England’s 200.

WICKET! Joe Root c Latham b Boult 24 (25b, 1×4, SR: 96.00)
Boult strikes with the first ball of his spell! Short ball down the legside and Root gets a fine edge on his attempted hook. Obviously didn’t feel it because he instantly reviews but is undone by Ultra-Edge. Yet another nail hammered into the coffin of “The batsman always knows when he’s hit it” myth. One day, former players on commentary won’t be utterly baffled by the exposure of a line that was unprovable at the time and demonstrable disproved now. Today is not that day, though. Slats can’t get his head round it.

1242 BST: Jonny Bairstow 100* (95b, 14×4, 1×6, SR: 105.26)
Two legside boundaries off Southee take Bairstow to back-to-back centuries. Been an innings of controlled power, he really has rarely looked troubled. Struggled after reaching three figures against India, so he’ll want to go on here because there are lots more runs out here for him.

1238 BST: England 186/1 (29 overs)
Root joins the 500-run club at this World Cup with his 24th run from his 24th ball today. He’s the fifth man to make it, behind Rohit Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan, David Warner and Aaron Finch. He’s the first Englishman ever to score 500 runs in a single World Cup, unsurprisingly.

1234 BST: England 182/1 (28 overs)
Bairstow into the 90s with his first six of the innings, plonked straight back over Southee’s head. Inevitably, commentators have now reached the #ButtlerSpeculation stage of the innings. Michael Slater wanted him in at three ahead of Root, even though Root is literally 22 not out off 21 balls right now; i.e. he is scoring faster than Jason Roy did.

1230 BST: England 173/1 (27 overs)
Neesham balloons a bouncer over Bairstow’s head for a comical wide. Classic bit from the Twitter funnyman. Fifty partnership comes up with a single, which just seems mental. They’ve only been batting together five minutes and Root hasn’t played a shot yet. But that’s what he does. He has, as ever, got to 20 without telling anyone.

1223 BST: England 168/1 (26 overs)
Some tip-and-run scampering from Bairstow and Root brings seven runs from Santner’s over. Delay at the end of it because Root has a nosebleed. If you wanted to be harsh, you would do a banter about how it’s because his run-rate is better than a run a ball.

1218 BST: England 161/1 (25 overs)
Root up to 16 at a run a ball, in accordance with the prophecy.

1214 BST: England 156/1 (24 overs)
Boundary apiece for Bairstow and Root in an expensive Santner over. Sums up the difference in the batsmen as well. Bairstow’s is muscled over midwicket, Root’s reverse-dabbed down to third-man. Eleven from the over in all. If we assume England amass some huge total or other here – which looks likely – there is a scenario where New Zealand’s priority will not be to chase down the target but to ensure they don’t suffer some massive NRR disaster to bring Pakistan back into the equation. There is in truth almost no pair of realistic results that would make it possible, but getting bowled out for 150 or something in pursuit of 400 would give the Black Caps a nervy couple of days.

1209 BST: England 144/1 (23 overs)
First shot of real authority from Root, a trademark back-foot punch off Henry that brings him three runs. Bairstow now unhappy with a steward in his hi-viz sat in front of the sightscreen. The steward is looking around to try and find the cause of Bairstow’s unhappiness and an excruciating amount of time passes before the moment of horror as realisation dawns. He shuffles away to another seat attempting to swallow the shame rising up in his throat.

1206 BST: England 141/1 (22 overs)
Bairstow back on the boundary trail. Not the world’s greatest bit of cricket, mind, a drag-down from Santner that Bairstow drags away with no timing but wide of the man running round the fence from  deep square-leg.

1203 BST: England 135/1 (21 overs)
Good tight over from Henry, four dot balls in a row to Bairstow and just two singles in all.

1159 BST: England 133/1 (20 overs)
Mad how Michael Vaughan’s biggest contribution to England’s ODI cricket is successfully winding up Jonny Bairstow. Vaughan has literally inspired more ODI hundreds than he himself has scored. Bairstow could well be on the way to another here, not letting the loss of Roy disturb him at all as a thumping pull shot off Southee clatters into the midwicket boards. Another pull shot hit hard brings a misfield from the boundary sweeper and a scampered second run. Already, and even with the loss of Roy, you’d be surprised if England don’t reach 350 here.

1154 BST: England 124/1 (19 overs)
Joe Root off the mark with a single to deep cover. If he gets in he’ll run New Zealand to distraction on this big outfield.

WICKET! Jason Roy c Santner b Neesham 60 (61b, 8×4, SR: 98.36)
Much-needed breakthrough for New Zealand, and it comes from nowhere. Two short balls from Neesham are smashed for fours over mid-on and through midwicket by Roy, but the next one is fuller and his feet don’t move. Tries to drive through cover but chips it straight to Santner.

1149 BST: England 115/0 (18 overs)
Southee’s first two overs went the distance, but he’s back with a tidier one here. Fairly obvious statement coming up, but Ferguson an absolutely massive miss for New Zealand in these middle overs in these conditions. His extra pace would make things uncomfortable for these two openers in a way Southee, Henry and even Boult – fine bowlers as they are – simply cannot.

1141 BST: England 111/0 (17 overs)
Roy wins the race to 50, and Bairstow promptly goes past him with a nudge into the legside and a scampered two off Jimmy Neesham. That will be drinks. England will be happy…

1140 BST: Jonny Bairstow 51* (46b, 9×4, SR: 110.86

1138 BST: Jason Roy 50* (55b, 6×4, SR: 90.90)

1135 BST: England 104/0 (15 overs)
Bairstow glides de Grandhomme down to third-man for four and England ease to three-figures inside 15 overs. And then does it again. Bairstow currently leading 48-47 in the intra-partnership race to 50. It’s good to have Jason Roy back, isn’t it? This is the 10th century stand for this pair opening the batting in ODIs. Phenomenal record.

1131 BST: England 93/0 (14 overs)
Great hands from Roy, toying with the boundary fielders. Again he gets Santner into the gap between the two men in the deep at cover and long-off to collect another boundary.

1127 BST: England 86/0 (13 overs)
Glorious from Bairstow, a high-elbowed drive on the up straight past Henry and away for four. Good scampering from Roy gets him two for a clip through midwicket, and those couple of quiet overs are behind England now.

1123 BST: England 78/0 (12 overs)
Santner back into the attack at a more orthodox moment, and Roy immediately puts him under pressure. Two well-placed drives into the gap at extra-cover bring two then four and 10 runs come from the over without much fuss.

1118 BST: England 68/0 (11 overs)
Back-to-back tidy overs from Boult and Henry. But England have their platform now. They generally make plenty from these sorts of foundations.

1114 BST: England 67/0 (10 overs)
Good over from Boult, and one that New Zealand desperately needed. Not all good, though, because it does include a warning from the umpire for running down the pitch. Mind you, getting yourself yanked from the attack for running down the pitch might be a good choice on this pitch.

1110 BST: England 66/0 (9 overs)
Bit of luck for Roy as he top-edges Henry straight over Latham’s head for a one-bounce four. The ball gets lost in the covers down there, until Latham trots down to find it. If you want a job doing, send a wicket-keeper.

1104 BST: England 59/0 (8 overs)
Roy has reached 300 runs for the tournament despite missing a chunk of the tournament through injury. There’s a boundary every over it seems, and he gets one in this over with a pull through midwicket to leave the boundary rider flailing.

1100 BST: England 53/0 (7 overs)
Four bowlers used by Williamson in seven overs and none of them are working. Wasting one of the four swinging overs on Santner was definitely an error. Opening with a spinner is the free-est of free hits for a bowling captain. If he gets a wicket you get praised to the heavens, but you never, ever get any criticism when it’s demonstrably proven to be the wrong choice. Mind you, there are fine margins at work here given the first ball of the day missed the leg stump by an inch.

1050 BST: England 44/0 (5 overs)
Bairstow a different beast since Roy came back into the side. Three more boundaries in this over, the first a gift on leg stump that is clipped away to midwicket before a bit of width allows him to hit up and over Santner at cover. The pitch-up ball having not worked for Southee he goes short and is pulled hard through square-leg. New Zealand under huge early pressure.

1046 BST: England 31/0 (4 overs)
Still plenty of swing for Boult, but doesn’t get his line right with a ball starting legside and going further before flicking the pad and beating Latham to bring four leg-byes.

1042 BST: England 25/0 (3 overs)
England’s status as flat-track bullies is self-fulfilling to a large extent. When they play well they are well capable of scoring 300+ in pretty much any conditions now. When they do, the pitch is automatically declared to be flat and any England win further evidence that they are only any good when batting conditions are easy. Ergo, their best and most convincing wins become evidence of a fault. The pitch at Edgbaston was never as flat as 338/7 made it look. This pitch, though, looks very, very flat indeed in these early overs. Once the Kookaburras stop swinging, which they will, it’s going to be a difficult day for bowlers. Southee’s first over sees a couple of early boundaries for Bairstow, who finally gets the strike and more importantly is still using his blue Gray-Nicolls. Both those boundaries are biffed through the offside, and two more runs come from a controlled edge wide of slip.

1038 BST: England 15/0 (2 overs)
There’s plenty of swing for Boult. It won’t last long, but this is a huge phase in the game early on. Boult’s first ball thuds into the pads but would’ve missed leg, while the second is taken by Latham down the legside. There’s a noise, but it’s not off the bat. When the ball’s swinging, of course, it can also create scoring options for the batsman and that’s what happens here as the ball arcs towards Roy’s toes and is neatly clipped away to the midwicket fence. Already a great little contest, this, and Roy picks up a couple more to end the over with a push to cover. Based on the swing we’ve seen there, the Santner Experiment should be a one-over thing and nothing more. Got to get Southee involved while the ball’s talking.

1034 BST: England 9/0 (1 over)
Blimey. This is quite the start. Santner starts with an arm ball that swings miles. Jason Roy is shaping up to cut a ball that ends up beating leg stump and keeper to run away for four byes. An attempt to repeat the trick turns into a friendly full-toss that Roy slaps uncomplicatedly to the cover boundary. The swing on offer is crazy. Good news for Trent Boult, you’d think.

1029 BST: The anthems are out of the way, and it’s going to be Mitchell Santner to bowl the opening over. Classic and correct banter against Roy and Bairstow. Neither the most convincing starter against slow stuff, but they showed against India what they can do to it once they’re in.

1012 BST: And now Nasser Hussain on Eoin Morgan. “I’m hoping he isn’t basing his game on what KP says on Twitter to be honest.” Spiky morning at the Sky Cart.

1010 BST: Scathing assessment of New Zealand from Simon Doull. “We’re not playing well, we haven’t got the team right, the early wins have masked the issues.”

1007 BST: England are unchanged, New Zealand bring in Southee and Matt Henry for Ferguson and Ish Sodhi.

1004 BST: England win the toss and bat first. That’s a good start. For a side that made a habit of chasing anything and everything for two years, it’s been a remarkable insight into tournament pressure to see how much batting first has mattered to them in this tournament. All three defeats have come chasing, alongside one win against West Indies. They’re four from four when batting first, with scores of 311/8, 386/6, 397/6 and 337/7.

0950 BST: Can’t lie, we are absolutely desperate for this match to end in a mutually beneficial tie. Would boil enough piss to power Zing bails for the rest of eternity.

0940 BST: Twenty minutes until the toss. Plenty of time to check out our big match guide and Riverside Pitch Report, plus take a look at the current standings and the semi-final permutations.

0920 BST: Ferguson’s absence could mean a return for Tim Southee, who only took seven wickets in that 2015 World Cup game.

0910 BST: Confirmation that Lockie Ferguson misses out today as a precaution. Shame, but right decision given New Zealand don’t actually need a result today.

0900 BST: And so it comes to pass that England’s fate in this tournament will (probably) be settled against the team that set them on their current path. The entire 2015 World Cup was a shitshow circus for England from start to finish, but it was the eight-wicket annihilation at the hands of New Zealand that really hit home the hardest in many ways. It may have been the defeat to Bangladesh that confirmed England would go out in the group stage, but it was the loss to New Zealand earlier in the tournament that confirmed just how far away England were from competing in this form of the game.

New Zealand were then the first – and in so many ways ideal – opponents a couple of months later for the radical New England Eoin Morgan wanted to build. That series, which kicked off with England whacking 408 against opponents who would hit them just as hard later in the series set the tone for the monster totals we’ve seen England compile and concede over the last four years and leading us all here, to Chester-le-Street, with England needing a win to secure a semi-final place.

New Zealand haven’t technically qualified but in the world outside the zaniest extreme possibilities of mathematics they have. England would still go through with a defeat today should Bangladesh beat Pakistan on Friday. But it’s fair to say England would very much not like to let it come down to that.

Sunday’s fine win over India has so utterly changed the mood around this England team that – from the outside at least – there seems to be a perception that this game is a formality. It is very much not. New Zealand have been slightly exposed when coming up against better teams in their last couple of games, and a couple of their earlier wins were far tighter than they would have wanted them to be, and their batting – the quiet magnificence of Kane Williamson apart – has been a bit of a shambles. But their seam bowling attack is one to be feared, even with Lockie Ferguson a doubt for this game, and even under sunny skies in Durham you can expect them to put England’s batsmen under some pressure. Things haven’t always gone well for England over the last five weeks when bowlers have been allowed their say…

 

Latest