by Jos Buttler was relieved when England revived in their T20 World Cup campaign by overtaking New Zealand in another tense showdown between teams.
A defeat to the Black Caps would likely have led to an elimination in the Super 12 stage, but Buttler scored his 100th T20 international with 73 of 47 balls, benefiting from falling twice.
Buttler, who overtook Eoin Morgan in this shot to become England’s top scorer in the format, claimed his team’s 179 out of six before a disciplined bowling performance ended a 20-run win.
England will then head to Sydney and have yet to beat Sri Lanka on Saturday, but are favorites to take the hosts and reigning champions Australia to a place in the semi-finals thanks to a higher net rate.
“It’s a great relief to get into that last game knowing we have a chance to progress,” he said. “It would be a difficult flight if we got lost here, above all, so we go there really excited.
“I think the team is in a really good position after this. In an unmissable game, to come out and play freely and express ourselves and show our talent, I was really proud of the character we showed.
“We’ve been playing a lot of cricket in a short amount of time recently, but it sure felt like such a long hiatus (they haven’t played since losing to Ireland last Wednesday).
“We desperately wanted to get back out there and show how good we are as a team. We are really dangerous and we have match winners. Not having played our best, we couldn’t wait to show it here. “
A defeat to neighboring Ireland, followed by a loss to Australia, both at the MCG, meant England couldn’t afford another mistake, but moved into the top two of their group.
They are level on points with New Zealand and Australia entering the final round of group matches, but England rivals Ashes have a significantly lower net rate.
This will be the determining factor if all three teams win the next match, also counting in England’s favor if they play New Zealand-Ireland and Australia-Afghanistan one day later.
“We just have to wait and see what happens, but there is a bit of an advantage playing that latest game to know exactly what is required of us,” Buttler said.
“We are expecting a really difficult match against Sri Lanka. They are a good team and every game is tough here. Knowing exactly what we have to do to make it will obviously be useful ”.
Alex Hales scored 52 of 40 balls in an 81-point opening grandstand for England, who changed their batting lineup with mixed results as Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone were catapulted into order.
New Zealand needed 57 of the last 30 balls in Brisbane, a disturbing reminder of when they successfully chased 57 of the last 24 balls in last year’s semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi.
Glenn Phillips, who fell on 15 from Moeen, had run at 25 balls and fifty but Mark Wood put the brakes on the kiwis by conceding just three goals from 16th onwards before Chris Woakes and Sam Curran took the lead.
“My journey as a captain is still quite young and as it evolves over time, I think I will have even more of an idea of exactly what I like,” added Buttler, who has led England’s white ball teams. last summer.
“As a captain you want to try to lead by example. Get over that game as a captain and score a few points for the team and then a couple of times you make a decision and it comes right away, it’s always nice when it happens.
Curran captured Phillips’ all-important wicket for 62 of 36 balls and finished with two of 26, particularly impressive as he threw the 18th and 20th over.
“He’s just a really good character,” Buttler added. “I think he’s great. I also love his mentality towards the game. He always wants to get rid of the tough. He wants the ball in his hand. “
