MELBOURNE: England must get past in-form New Zealand on Tuesday if they are to get their Twenty20 World Cup campaign back on track but their hopes of reaching the semi-finals would also suffer a heavy blow if the Brisbane weather refuses to play ball.

England are in a precarious position after their rain-hit defeat to Ireland and with last week’s eagerly-anticipated encounter with champions Australia abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Rain is again forecast for Tuesday and another washout would mean England could finish on a maximum of six points in Group 1 provided they beat Sri Lanka in their final game on Saturday — a tally that would likely see them fail to advance.

“It would be nice to get the full 40 overs in, so keep our fingers crossed that we get the right conditions to be able to do that,” England assistant coach Paul Collingwood said.

“In World Cups you want to see the best sides competing against each other in an equal game. Hopefully tomorrow the rain stays away and we can manage to do that.”

If 2010 champions England take four points from their last two games, Jos Buttler’s side could finish tied with New Zealand and Australia, which would mean net run rate would determine the top two.

New Zealand can become the first team into the semi-finals this week but first will need to contain England’s powerful batting line-up, said pace bowler Lockie Ferguson on Monday.

Ferguson told reporters that New Zealand would need him and fellow quicks Trent Boult and Tim Southee to be at their best to overcome England at the Gabba.

“What you always expect from England is that they come out very hot,” said Ferguson.

“They pride themselves probably on that aggressive nature and bat very deep.”

New Zealand sit top of Group 1 after two wins and one washout and need one more victory from their last two games against England on Tuesday or Ireland on Friday to clinch a place in the final four.

Boult has been superb in the tournament so far, taking six wickets including a career-best 4-13 against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Southee took 3-6 as New Zealand started with bang, routing Australia in the tournament opener.

“Tim and Trent have had a blinder in these first two games,” said Ferguson.

“When the ball’s swinging, there’s not much better in the world. So I think from that point of view, nothing needs to change too much, and we just need to adjust to the conditions on the day.

“England are going to have a lot of firepower and we need to combat that.”

The clash is a replay of the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final which New Zealand won by five wickets in Abu Dhabi.

It is also a repeat of the 2019 50-over World Cup final, which England edged by the finest of margins, a boundary countback, after a super over couldn’t separate the sides.

Ferguson said New Zealand knew that a win would seal a semi-final place, but they were not looking that far ahead yet.

“Clearly, there’s a long way to go for us. We need to make sure we take it game by game,” he said.

“It’s very much one game at a time. Tomorrow is a big focus for us, after that we’ll cross the next bridge when it comes.”

In Tuesday’s other Super 12 match, Afghanistan play 2014 champions Sri Lanka, who must win both their games and hope other results go their way to reach the last-four stage.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2022