Kiwis storm past England into World Cup final

New Zealand have once again upset the odds to stake a claim as the best all-format side in cricket by powering past England by five wickets in their T20 World Cup semi-final and setting themselves up for a shot at a second global title of the year.

The world Test champions once again remained icy cool under pressure in the short format chase on Wednesday just as the chance to meet either Australia or Pakistan in Sunday's final seemed to be slipping away in Abu Dhabi with just four overs left.

Yet with 57 needed off 24 balls, the Black Caps found a new hero in unsung opener Daryl Mitchell, who delivered in dazzling style in the denouement, racing to an unbeaten 72 off 47 balls as the wheels came off for the favourites.

Watched by his emotional-looking father, former All Blacks rugby coach John Mitchell, the 30-year-old had earlier suffered some real struggles on a pitch that seemed a bit sluggish and two-paced as he tried to lead the pursuit of England's challenging 4-166.

Yet the key came when he found an uninhibited partner in Jimmy Neesham, who launched a blistering attack in a nervy 17th over dished up by Chris Jordan. The England paceman got his length all wrong, dished up two wides and got plundered for 23.

Then by the time Neesham fell to Adil Rashid the next over, Mitchell had taken control, depositing a six off the leg-spinner before then taking 19 of the 20 runs off Chris Woakes' next over to blitz New Zealand to their target, remarkably with an over still to spare.

It put Kane Williamson's so often underrated side in line for a second global title of the year after winning the inaugural World Test Championship in June and made amends for their agonising defeat on a boundary countback to England in the 50-over World Cup final in 2019.

"I knew it was going to be a great game of cricket and that proved to be the case," said Williamson.

"It ebbed and flowed, as they often do when we go against each other, but I'm really chuffed with the heart shown through the performance.

"I suppose we were (struggling) a little bit but T20 cricket is a game of small margins and we've seen that through the whole tournament."

Now, Australia will take on Pakistan in tonight's second semi-final (1am Friday AEDT, Fox Cricket & Kayo), hoping for another World Cup final meeting with their trans-Tasman rivals following their 2015 triumph in Melbourne in the 50-over edition.

It was the first tournament clash between England and New Zealand since that Lord's 2019 World Cup thriller, and it had all looked to be going the way of Eoin Morgan's side until Neesham's game-changing arrival ended with smashing 27 off 11 balls.

Suitably inspired, Mitchell found his timing to crash four fours and four sixes in all in his match-winning knock.

Earlier, Moeen Ali had struck 51 not out and Dawid Malan 41 to earn former champions England a decent total at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Put in to bat, they had been 2-67 at halfway stage and reached the 100-mark in 14 overs, kept in check by New Zealand's tight bowling and sharp fielding.

England were forced into rejigging their opening combination having lost Jason Roy to a calf injury and Jonny Bairstow moved up to partner Jos Buttler in a move that did not really pay off.

Bairstow made 18 before driving Adam Milne to mid-off where Williamson demonstrated the sharp catching which has been the hallmark of his team.

Ish Sodhi struck a body blow when he dismissed Buttler, England's leading scorer in the tournament, lbw for 29.

Woakes wrecked New Zealand's top order, removing the dangerous Martin Guptill and the dependable Williamson in successive overs.

Mitchell and Conway rebuilt the innings but England still maintained the upper hand in the see-saw contest until Neesham's late attack and Mitchell's fine finish.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

Semi-finals

Nov 10: New Zealand beat England by five wickets

Nov 11: Pakistan v Australia, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 12 AEDT)

Final

Nov 14: New Zealand v TBC, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 15 AEDT)

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

Click here for the full 2021 ICC T20 World Cup schedule