Colombo, February 28
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner acknowledged the nervousness in the team camp after their loss against England in both teams' last Super 8s match of the T20 World Cup 2026, at Colombo on Friday. The defeat meant that New Zealand now depend on the result of the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka match on Saturday for their semifinal qualifications.
England beat New Zealand by four wickets to register their third win in as many Super 8 matches. With England already through, the race for the second semifinal berth from Group 2 is now between Pakistan and New Zealand.
New Zealand currently sit second on the points table with three points from three games, having secured one win while one match was washed out. Pakistan are third with one point from two matches, following a loss and a no-result.
If Pakistan beat Sri Lanka, they will draw level with New Zealand on three points. However, they must secure a convincing victory to surpass New Zealand's net run rate of +1.390, as Pakistan's NRR stands at -0.461. To do so, Pakistan need to win by 64 runs if they bat first, or chase down the target within 13.1 overs if batting second against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Mitchell Santner admitted to nervous feelings but acknowledged that qualification is no longer in their hands, saying the team can only wait to see whether they travel to India for the semifinals or head back to New Zealand.
"Pretty nervous. But yeah, I mean, it's out of our control. We can't really do much. Just kind of wait and see, and we either get on a plane to India or New Zealand," Santner said as quoted by the ICC website.
Santner also acknowledged that winning the England game would have made things a lot easier for the Blackcaps and admitted again that there will be some anxious moments as they wait for other results. He noted that while the team performed well in patches over recent games, small lapses in execution and fielding proved costly, and he credited England for the way they played.
"It would have made things a lot easier if we won tonight. But, yeah, there'll be some nervous watching probably tomorrow just to see what happens. I mean, cricket's a funny game at the end of the day and we did a lot of good stuff throughout this game and even the last couple games but it's always those little moments at the end or throughout an innings where you can be a little bit sharper whether it's execution or in the field but yeah I mean credit to England setting up that chase like they did," Santner said.
Coming to the England vs New Zealand match, the latter posted a fighting total of 159 after batting first. The Black Caps recovered from a mid-innings slump after a brisk start by openers Finn Allen (35) and Tim Seifert (29).
For England, Liam Dawson (1/32), Adil Rashid (2/28), Will Jacks (2/23), and Rehan Ahmed (2/28) were among the wicket-takers.
Chasing, captain Harry Brook (26), Jacob Bethell (21), Tom Banton (33), Sam Curran (24), and Will Jacks (32*) played fighting knocks as the Three Lions secured a close win by four wickets.
- ANI
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