England clip Kiwis to sail into semifinals

Cook leads from the front with a fine 64 as hosts post 10-run win

Hosts England advanced to the Champions Trophy semifinals on Sunday after defeating New Zealand by 10 runs in a rain-reduced Group A match here which looked likely at one stage to end in a washout.

Steady rain fell for most of the day after New Zealand won the toss and elected to field but it eventually cleared in the middle of the afternoon to allow time for a 24 overs a side match.

New Zealand, set 170 to win after dismissing England for 169 with three deliveries to spare, lost early wickets against some excellent pace bowling in the damp conditions.
Kane Williamson revived their hopes with 67 from 54 balls, adding 73 for the sixth wicket with debutant Corey Anderson (30), but England held their nerve and the rain held off.

The remaining semifinal place will be decided by the final Group A match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Oval on Monday. India and South Africa are the qualifiers from Group B.

England captain Alastair Cook profited from three dropped catches by Nathan McCullum to top score with 64 from 47 balls, including two straight sixes.
He also played an adroit scoop shot to fine leg for four, a shot not normally seen in his repertoire.

Cook received good support from Joe Root (38) who pulled the first six of the day off Daniel Vettori.

The veteran left-arm spinner, who bowled with his customary accuracy and skill, had an lbw decision against the young Yorkshireman turned down after a review showed a thin inside edge on to the pad.

However, he then dismissed the dangerous Eoin Morgan (15) lbw to finish with the excellent figures of one for 27 off his five overs.

McCullum finally held on to a chance off Cook, gratefully accepting a return chance of his off-spin bowling. He had earlier caught Jonathan Trott (8) and took two more in the deep to finish with four overall.

The remaining middle-order England batsmen could not get going and medium-pacer Kyle Mills dismissed Stuart Broad and James Tredwell for ducks to finish with four for 30.

In reply, the Kiwi batsmen kept losing wickets at regular intervals to suffer defeat.

Score board:

ENGLAND

Cook c&b N McCullum    64
Bell c B McCullum b McClenaghan    10
Trott c N McCullum b Mills    8
Root c Ronchi b McClenaghan    38
Morgan lbw Vettori    15
Buttler c N McCullum b Mills    14
Bopara c W’son b McClenaghan    9
Bresnan (run out)    4
Broad c N McCullum b Mills    0
Tredwell c McClenaghan b Mills    0
Anderson (not out)    0
Extras (LB-2, W-4, NB-1)    7
Total (all out, 23.3 overs)    169
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-25, 3-100, 4-141, 5-143, 6-159, 7-166, 8-169, 9-169. Bowling: McClenaghan 5-0-36-3, Mills 4.3-0-30-4, Anderson 1-0-4-0, Vettori 5-0-27-1, Franklin 2-0-20-0, N McCullum 4-0-30-1, Williamson 2-0-20-0.

NEW ZEALAND

Guptill b Anderson    9
Ronchi c Trott b Anderson    2
Williamson c Anderson b Broad    67
Taylor lbw Bresnan    3
B McCullum c Root b Bopara    8
Franklin c Morgan b Bopara    6
Corey c Anderson b Bresnan    30
N McCullum c Buttler b Anderson    13
Mills (not out)    5
Extras (LB-8, W-8)    16
Total (for 8 wkts; 24 overs)    159
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-14, 3-27, 4-48, 5-62, 6-135, 7-140, 8-159,.
Bowling: Broad 5-0-25-1, Anderson 5-0-32-3, Bresnan 5-0-41-2, Bopara 5-0-26-2, Tredwell 4-0-27-0.