A brilliant unbeaten hundred from Tom Banton, well cushioned by a half-century from Jack Davies, rescued England from 48/3 and helped them post 263 before they bowl out New Zealand for just 229 to earn the seventh spot.
England’s stand-in captain Will Jacks won the toss and chose to bat, and saw his team struggle to score at the beginning. England managed just 23 runs off their first ten overs, losing Liam Banks bowled aiming an expansive drive at Luke Georgeson.
Some breathing space came after the first powerplay after Banton dismissed a free-hit from Todd Watson. But, soon lost two wickets within seven balls to found themselves striving at 48 for three.
Since then, Banton and Davies combined for a magnificent partnership of 139. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was effective, and by the end, both were scoring freely and looking to score quickly.
Banton was particularly impressive. He learned from his past mistakes pending four balls on 99 before inside-edging a single and only allowing himself release after reaching the three-figure mark. Some late blow from Tom Scriven (22* of 13) put England on 261 at the halfway mark.
New Zealand’s day in the field was mixed. They were some sloppy fielding; some tough chances went by. Luke Georgeson was the pick of the bowlers bagging three wickets for 29.
New Zealand’s innings took a similar pattern to England’s, with the loss of early wickets off-set by a superb partnership of 113 between Finn Allen and Katene Clarke that seemed to have put New Zealand firmly ahead.
Allen, in particular, was in a great touch showing maturity and aggression. But his dismissal, falling to a marginal LBW, triggered a collapse of 28/7.
New Zealand panicked as there were unnecessary shots played, the running was sloppy. England kept their heads cool when it mattered the most. Euan Woods and Jacks claimed three wickets each to pull curtains to New Zealand’s innings.
It’s not where England wanted to end the tournament, but they can take heart from how they came back following two defeats.
Brief Score: England 261/7 (Banton 112, Davies 63; Georgeson 3/29) beat New Zealand 229 (Allen 87, Clarke 60; Jacks 3/41, Woods 3/44) by 32 runs
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