T20 World Cup | Mohammad Rizwan, Malik declared fit for Semi-Final clash against Australia

T20 World Cup | Jimmy Neesham explains lack of emotions after leading New Zealand's win over England

There are different shades of Jimmy Neesham and he shows all of that on different occasions and at different platforms. He has been one of the wittiest cricketers going around on social media while he has been a muted player on the field. With the bat, he has been known for hitting colossal sixes and a lot of that was evident on the night of the semi-final between New Zealand and England. He bats in the lower-middle order and doesn’t feature in the first-choice bowling attack as well and hence doesn’t quite attract a lot of limelight. However, he changed the course of the game against England by smashing England bowlers to all parts of the ground on his way to an 11-ball 27 that snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat. But, as soon as he was dismissed in the 18th over of the game off Adil Rashid, the game appeared to shift back to equilibrium before Daryl Mitchell woke up from a sluggish innings and plundered Chris Woakes to win the game for the Blackcaps. When Mitchell hit the final four of the game to seal the victory, the whole of the New Zealand dugout was up on its feet in celebration of an unprecedented achievement of reaching the T20 World Cup final, there were two faces who were muted and unmoved at their respective seats. While there should be no prize for guessing that the skipper Kane Williamson would be one of them, there can be a serious element of surprise in finding Neesham being the second person showing no emotion and sitting still on his seat. Social media users were quick to point out that and all of them had to offer a lot of words on that move by Neesham.

South Africa elevate Keshav Maharaj as captain, rest big players from Netherlands ODI series

After a grueling season where the players travelled across the world to play and prepare for the T20 World Cup, South Africa have rested their major players such as the skipper Temba Bavuma, senior batsmen such as Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen along with the pacer duo of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada for the upcoming home series against Netherlands. Keshav Maharaj has been elevated as the captain of the Proteas side in absence of Bavuma. The likes of Janneman Malan, David Miller along with Daryn Dupavillon, Reeza Hendricks, Sisanda Magala form the batting core of the Proteas. There could be opportunities for Zubayr Hamza and Ryan Rickelton in the absence of senior players in the side. The Proteas have also reintroduced Wayne Parnell, who left the country to play county cricket as part of Kolpak deal in 2017. Now, as the United Kingdom has left the European Union and subsequently the Kolpak deals are not available for them anymore, players are returning to play cricket in South Africa. The responsibility of pace department will hinge on the shoulders of Lungi Ngidi, whose career has hit a sort of roadblock after the emergence of Nortje and his able partnership with Rabada. The skipper Maharaj will form the spin bowling partnership with Tabraiz Shamsi. Netherlands are set to play three ODIs in South Africa and all these games will be played at the Super Sport Park in Centurion. South Africa squad Keshav Maharaj (C), Daryn Dupavillon, Zubayr Hamza, Reeza Hendricks, Sisanda Magala, Andile Phehlukwayo, Wayne Parnell, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Dwaine Pretorius.

T20 World Cup | Dary Mitchell heaps praise on Neesham, says semi-final was never out of grasp

When Sam Billings caught Glenn Phillips off the bowling of Liam Livingstone leaving the Blackcaps needing as many as 60 runs from the last 29 balls, the things seemed precarious and the match could have gone away from them in matter of few balls. However, for the opener Daryl Mitchell, it never went out of New Zealand’s grasp and according to him the smaller sized boundaries on one side of the ground meant that there were favorable match ups on offer for them. By the end of Livingstone’s over, the Kiwis needed 57 runs from 24 balls and it was now or never moment for the Kane Williamson-led side and right on cue, entered James Neesham to put England under pressure with herculean effort with the bat. He plundered Chris Jordan, who was coming into the contest as one of the death bowlers in the tournament, for 24 runs and the Blackcaps could smell something special on offer. They were helped immensely by the presence of Mitchell, who had spent time in the middle and found his top gear and timing just at the right time. After that big over, both he and Neesham and went after the leg spinner Adil Rashid with brute power and secured 14 runs off it to make it look easy for the Blackcaps. Mitchell was the Man of the Match and in a most fitting way finished the game in the penultimate over by smashing Chris Woakes for two sixes and one boundary while needing 20 runs off the last 12 balls. "No, it probably sounds weird, but it never felt like it was out of our grasp. I think especially with that smaller side boundary on one side, we knew that there were going to be match-ups there that might suit us towards the end, and look, we were obviously very lucky at times; a couple sailed over the ropes that could have been a metre shorter and we're all out,” Mitchell said in the post-match press conference. "But at the same time, we always knew that as long as we kept just within the certain numbers that we felt comfortable with that we were always a chance. I thought the way that Neesh (Neesham) came out and really dominated that one over really set the momentum heading into those last few, so yeah, take my cap off to him. He played a hell of a knock." Before coming to his best with the best in the latter half of the innings, Mitchell was going through a tough time against the new ball bowling of Chris Woakes. The pitch was sticky and odd balls were moving in the air in the first innings as well. Woakes had already taken two big wickets of Martin Guptill and skipper Kane Williamson and Mitchell opted to see him through while he was bowling with his favorite choice of weapon—the new ball. "Yeah, I think the new ball is very challenging on that surface," Mitchell said. "It was pretty two-paced to start off with, and as you could probably see, it was tough to get going at times. "I thought the way that all the batters that came in sort of hung in there and helped build a platform to try and allow us to launch at the end, and we were very lucky that a few just snuck over the rope and got us going... it's a bit of a blur, but I can imagine it was a hell of a game to watch, and I think the way England played was very special as well. It's obviously pretty cool to get the job done, but I know it's a game of inches, that's for sure." New Zealand roared past England by five wickets with six balls to spare and will wait for the result of the second semi-final between Australia and Pakistan to see who they will face off against in the big final.

T20 World Cup | Semi-final: When in trouble, call Neesham, Jimmy Neesham

Heard about James Bond? Let us tell you about another James, James Neesham. A New Zealand player who had a bat in his hand and not a gun but surely a licence to unleash an assault on the England bowlers in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening. Neesham had come out to bat when the Kiwis were in a spot of bother at 107/4 in 15.1 overs chasing 167 with a struggling Daryl Mitchell at the other end. While New Zealand had wickets in hand, they needed someone to push the paddle from the other side and Neesham did exactly the same. The left-handed batsman didn’t really take much time to get his eye in and began with the job. He was at 1 off 1 when the death over specialist Chris Jordan bowled in a decent manner in the match, was up against him. It took Neesham just six more deliveries to move to 20 off 7 and smack a couple of maximums and a four during the course. But the onslaught didn’t end there as England captain Eoin Morgan, in search of a wicket, handed the ball to Adil Rashid. The leggie did what his captain wanted him to but VERY, VERY LATE. Neesham had already scored a maximum in this 18th over and New Zealand had already got that boost of acceleration with his energy rubbing off on Daryl Mitchell. The right hander at the other end had hit Rashid for another six making his intentions clear that he wasn’t going to hold back. The two batters had collected 14 runs in total before Neesham was caught by Morgan at extra cover for 27 off 11, a knock that included three sixes and a four. The equation had now become 20 off 12 with five wickets in hands down from 57 off 24 deliveries. Mitchell later finished off the match in the penultimate over to help his side make a place for themselves in the final smashing two sixes and a four. He remained unbeaten at 72 off 47 and hit four sixes and as many fours during the course. Daryl Mitchell-Devon Conway’s stand While James Neesham had taken the limelight for this chase, the foundation was laid by Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway. New Zealand had a dismal start after they lost Martin Guptill who had been in some good knick and captain Kane Williamson early in the innings and were left tottering at 13/2 in the third over. But it was Mitchell and Conway who steadied the ship with a 82-run stand for the third wicket before the latter departed for 46 off 38 after he was stumped by Jos Buttler off Liam Livingstone. More than the partnership, it was about the way the two batsmen stitched it. They didn’t really show much hurry initially and took time to get themselves in the groove before going after the bowlers. While the English bowlers peppered Mitchell with short stuff, the batsman negotiated them well. The knock from him became more crucial as New Zealand haven’t really been getting stable starts from the opening pair and it was generally Daryl who was getting out early barring the game against India. Conway on the other side, lived up to the expectations and stood strong at the other end. Eoin Morgan’s captaincy England skipper Eoin Morgan certainly missed the plot as he was in a desperate search of a wicket in the 18th over. Morgan handed the ball to Adil Rashid against someone like James Neesham who was in a different form on Wednesday. A leg spinner against a left-handed batsman who was in his zone of thrashing every possible delivery out of the park was a disastrous call. And this decision totally put New Zealand in the driver’s seat after the Kiwis collected 20 runs from this over. Another trick that the English skipper missed was not introducing Moeen Ali into the attack. An off-spinner might have done a better job and if not much, he could have at least kept a check on the scoring-rate which just kept on jumping with every passing ball. Also, Moeen had been riding on confidence after the kind of innings that he played and was among runs for the side which would have eventually helped him if he had come into the attack. Moeen Ali-David Malan provide resistance After being put into bat, England were off to a decent start but a couple of wickets pushed them on the backfoot for a while before Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan provided the resistance to the side. The two batters chipped in with a partnership of 63 runs for their wicket. While Malan began to cut loose a bit after he had settled in the middle, Moeen on the other side, took the back seat. But as soon as Malan departed for a 30-ball 41 in the 16th over, Moeen broke the shackles and started to score runs in a more brisk and aggressive manner. The left-handed batsman eventually remained not out for 51 off 17 which included two sixes and three fours. New Zealand’s brilliance in the field The Blackcaps have been in some terrific form as far as their fielding is concerned and they unveiled yet another instance of this during the clash against England. Captain Kane Williamson grabbed a stunner at mid off to send Jonny Bairstow packing while the team saved around 10 runs if not more in total in the innings. Well, as they say, runs saved are runs scored. And this probably happened. But all said and done, New Zealand are the first finalists for this year’s T20 World Cup as they defeated England by 5 wickets. The 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup seems to feed the spectators and fans with those “break the jinx” instances. First, Pakistan did it after they defeated India for the first time in a World Cup fixture and now it’s New Zealand. New Zealand suffered a defeat in the 50-over World Cup final in 2019 and in the semi-final of the 2016 World T20 to England. But they have now defeated the English team in the knockout match and also booked a final spot for the first time in a T20 World Cup. They will either meet Pakistan or Australia in the title clash on Sunday, 14 November.