Ahmed and Jacks partnership inspires England to thrilling win over New Zealand

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a] would have joined [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/UJC5mtAU/"]England[/a] in the knockouts with a win in their final Super Eights match and they scored 159-6 after opting to bat.[/p][p]England lost wickets early and looked like they would be squeezed out at 117-6, needing 43 from the last three overs.[/p][p]But Ahmed and Jacks took 22 off the 18th over from Glenn Phillips to turn the match on its head.[/p][p]Ahmed blasted 19 off seven balls in his first T20 World Cup match.[/p][p]Jacks made an unbeaten 32 off 18 as the pair saw England to 161-6 with three balls to spare.[/p][embed guid="714b5c97-e97d-4c38-9d54-5555b8f1de07" url="https://x.com/englandcricket/status/2027434873573593127" social-type="twitter" /][p]Jacks, who also took 2-23 to be England's leading bowler, was named player of the match for an incredible fourth time in seven T20 World Cup outings this campaign.[/p][p][b]"I reckon this is the best,"[/b] said Jacks of his growing collection of player of the match awards.[/p][p]"I'm absolutely buzzing with that, to be not out at the end in a tight finish.[/p][p][b]"When I went out there, it was on a bit of a knife-edge, and I'm over the moon."[/b][/p][embed guid="0e70b7c2-07b6-4a3d-8f19-94f9f9ae4a47" url="https://x.com/englandcricket/status/2027446381221228624" social-type="twitter" /][p]New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner paid tribute to Ahmed and Jacks.[/p][p][b]"Rehan showed his class with the bat in the last couple of years and is obviously a very good player of spin,"[/b] said Santner.[/p][p]"So he wasn't really fazed on that wicket. The way Willy J and Rehan put those finishing touches was a good bit of batting."[/p][h2]Mumbai semi-final for England[/h2][p]England will move on to a semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday against either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/india/fcOzl2uI/"]India[/a] or the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-indies/jTD1lMfO/"]West Indies[/a], who clash on Sunday to decide the last semi-final berth.[/p][p][b]"We're not bothered (who we play),"[/b] said England captain Harry Brook, whose side played two group matches in Mumbai, beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nepal/EV7nAyc1/"]Nepal[/a] but losing to the West Indies.[/p][p]"Whoever we're facing, they're going to be a tough opponent anyway. We've already played against the West Indies, so a little bit of experience there.[/p][p][b]"It's nice to go back to a ground that we've already played on as well."[/b][/p][p]New Zealand now have to sweat on the outcome of Saturday's clash between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sri-lanka/zahH5UHg/"]Sri Lanka[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pakistan/tS3K91g9/"]Pakistan[/a] in Kandy which will decide the second semi-finalist from Super Eights Group 2.[/p][p]Pakistan have an inferior run rate to New Zealand so will need to win by 65 runs or inside 13 overs, if chasing, to deny the Kiwis.[/p][p][b]"We'll probably be watching the game tomorrow,"[/b] said Santner, whose side remain favourites to go through.[/p][p]England used five spinners to bowl 16 of the 20 overs on a turning track. The 2010 and 2022 champions had never bowled so many overs of spin before in a T20 international.[/p][p]Adil Rashid picked up 2-28 and is now England's leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 11.[/p][p]Rashid was complemented by fellow wrist spinner Ahmed, who was called up in place of Jamie Overton, and took a wicket with his first ball before finishing with 2-28 from three overs.[/p][p]Glenn Phillips top scored with 39 off 28 including four fours and a six while opener Tim Seifert scored 35.[/p][p]Liam Dawson (1-32) and Jacob Bethell (0-13) were the other spinners employed by England.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/england-UJC5mtAU/new-zealand-G6PWlrQB/?mid=OODW1KNj"]Check out the full scoreboard here[/a][/b].[/p]