Hosts England will face New Zealand in their last group match in the ICC Cricket World Cup at Chester-le-Street this afternoon. After Sunday’s success against India, England will enter into the game as a confident side while New Zealand will head into the game following successive losses to Pakistan and Australia. Even a defeat would not spell the end of either team’s chances of entering into the top four from the 10-team round-robin phase.
The winner of today’s game will book a semi-final berth, while the losing team will have to wait for the result Pakistan’s final game against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s last match against India. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are alive in the tournament mathematically. Last night, India secured a place in the semi-finals with a 28-run win over Bangladesh at Birmingham.
Opting to bat, the Men in Blue posted 314 for 9, riding on Rohit Sharma’s 92-ball 104, his 26th ODI ton. Later, with the ball, India bundled out Bangladesh for 286 in 48 overs sending them out of the World Cup. Paceman Jasprit Bumrah bagged four wickets guiding Team India to join Australia in the last-four. Bangladesh, South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan are out.