CARDIFF – England booked their place in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with an 87-run win over New Zealand in Cardiff on Tuesday.
Victory meant England had won both their opening Group A games following their eight-wicket defeat of Bangladesh at the Oval last week.
New Zealand, set 311 for victory, were bowled out for 223 with 39 balls left in their innings.
England made one change from the side that beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in their Group A opener at the Oval last week, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid replacing Chris Woakes after the paceman suffered a tournament-ending side strain.
New Zealand were unchanged from the side that played in a frustrating no result washout against Australia in their first group match.
“These tournaments are short and sharp and there’s no room for mistakes,” Williamson, who made a hundred against Australia, said after winning the toss.
“We want to be positive, look to attack from ball one and see where it takes us.”
Victory for England on Tuesday would see them into the semi-finals of a 50-over tournament featuring the world’s top eight one-day international teams.
“We’d have bowled first,” said England captain Eoin Morgan after his side were sent into bat in overcast conditions and on a green-tinged pitch.
“We have one change — Adil Rashid comes in for Chris Woakes.
“Jake Ball takes the new ball today, hopefully he goes well.
“Ben Stokes is fit to bowl 10 overs, it’s the best he’s felt for a long time,” added Morgan of the all-rounder, who has been hampered in his delivery stride by a knee problem.
This match was set to be halted after 30 minutes’ play to observe the national minute’s silence at 11:00am local time (1000 GMT) in memory of the victims of Saturday’s London terror attack.
Teams
England: Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Jake Ball
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Luke Ronchi (wkt), Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.
