England in World Twenty20 Final dreamland

Captain Eoin Morgan said England were in dreamland after crushing New Zealand by seven wickets in New Delhi on Wednesday to qualify for cricket's World Twenty20 final.

Jason Roy top-scored with a sensational 78 off 44 balls as England cantered home in 17.1 overs after their bowlers had restricted much-fancied New Zealand to 153 for eight.

The 2010 champions will play either hosts India or the West Indies in Sunday's final at Kolkata's Eden Gardens following the convincing last-four win at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

"A final is the kind of thing you dream about," said Morgan afterwards.

"Every player in that dressing room has worked extremely hard and made a lot of sacrifices over the past year to put us in this position," the skipper added.

Chasing 154 for victory, England rode on a brisk 82-run partnership between opener Roy and Alex Hales as New Zealand's bowlers, who had shone in the team's unbeaten run to the semis, were made to suffer.

Even the introduction of spin after six overs of powerplay did little to improve the situation and Mitchell Santner eventually gave the Kiwis their first breakthrough when he got Hales (20) out.

But Roy stayed in control, hitting 11 fours and two sixes, for a man-of-the-match performance.

"I got a few boundaries early and it just kept going from there," said the 25-year-old.

"The whole team has that licence and opportunity to do what they want and be free with their skills. I just looked at the runs that were needed and knocked them off," he added.

Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi took the wickets of Roy and Morgan (0) to leave himself on a hat-trick, but England made sure they stayed on course.

Jos Buttler (32), who denied Sodhi his hat-trick, and a composed Joe Root (27) then drove England to their second World T20 final, with Buttler hitting a four and two sixes against Sodhi to finish things off in style.

Earlier, Ben Stokes grabbed three wickets as England's bowlers responded well to their captain's decision to field first and restrict New Zealand towards the death after a poor start.

New Zealand lost opener Martin Guptill early but Kane Williamson (32) and Colin Munro (46) counter-attacked with a 74-run partnership to lay a solid foundation before the Kiwis faltered late on.

Off-spinner Moeen Ali's introduction in the 11th over soon saw the back of Williamson as England turned the screw.

Liam Plunkett bowled well in his second spell, denying Munro his fifty when a wild slice went straight into the safe hands of Ali at third man.

England's fielders continued to pouch their catches and Morgan dived beautifully at extra cover to get rid of Ross Taylor off Chris Jordan.

The wickets quickly tumbled and New Zealand's run-rate, which had started impressively, plummeted.

Stokes was going for a hat-trick near the end after sending back Luke Ronchi for three and the hard-hitting Anderson for 28.

The impressive all-rounder ended with figures of 3-26 as New Zealand lost five wickets for 35 runs in the final 30 deliveries of their innings.

Williamson said his charges had failed to take advantage of a promising start.

"We were 130 for three which is certainly a good platform for any game of Twenty20 cricket and we were not able to capitalise on that," said the Kiwi skipper.

"(But) credit to England, the way they played... Jason Roy took the game away," he added.

"Today was not meant to be for us."

Explosive

England powered by an explosive half century from Jason Roy (78) beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the first semifinal of the World T20 in Delhi on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 154, the 2010 champions booked their berth in the finals on Sunday virtually blowing away the Black Caps with an blazing opening stand of 82 in 8.2 overs.

Roy pummelled 11 fours and two sixes in his 44-ball knock while Root and Buttler maintained the momentum with an unbroken stand of 49 off just 26 balls to take England home with nearly three overs to spare.

Buttler bludgeoned three sixes, including the winning hit off Santner, and two boundaries in his 17-ball unbeaten 22 while Root cracked three boundaries in his knock of 27 as England romped to 159-3 in 17.1 overs.

Santner gets a breakthrough as Hales holes out to long-on. Eng 82-1, 8.2 overs.

Alex Hales c Munro b Santner 20 (19b 1x4 1x6)

England are off to a blazing start with Roy completing a 26-ball 50.

Roy smacks a couple of boundaries off Santner who strays down the leg side. Eng 60-0, 5 overs.

The 50 partnership between Roy and Hales has come in just 26 balls.

Roy smashes Milne for a towering six as England race along merrily. Eng 49-0, 4 overs.

Hales hits the first six of the innings slamming McClenaghan over long-on. Eng 36-0, 3 overs.

Roy is on fire cracking Milne through point for another boundary. 

England are off to a flier chasing 154 as Roy hits four boundaries off Anderson. Eng 16-0, 1 over.

New Zealand innings

Stokes strikes with a direct hit as McClenaghan is run out off the last ball as New Zealand finish on 153-8

Stokes picks up his third wicket pegging back Black Caps in the death overs. NZ 150-7, 19.2 overs.

Mitchell Santner c Jordan b Stokes 7 (6b 1x4)

Stokes is on a hat-trick as another full toss accounts for Anderson. NZ 139-6, 17.4 overs.

Corey Anderson c Jordan b Stokes 28 (23b 2x4 1x6)

Stokes strikes as Ronchi departs hammering a full toss straight to long-off. NZ 139-5, 17.3 overs.

Luke Ronchi c Willey b Stokes 3 (3b)

Morgan takes a superb catch to dismiss Taylor. NZ 134-4, 16.3 overs.

Ross Taylor c Morgan b Jordan 6 (8b)

Anderson thumps Plunkett for a six. NZ 133-3. 16 overs.

Anderson punches Rashid down the ground for a boundary. NZ 121-3, 15 overs.

Plunkett gets a breakthrough as Munro chases a wide ball slicing to third man. NZ 107-3, 13.2 overs.

Colin Munro c Ali b Plunkett 46 (32b 7x4 1x6)

Anderson gets going muscling Ali past the long off fielder for a boundary. NZ 106-2, 13 overs.

Moeen Ali strikes in his first over running back to take a skier from Williamson to break a 74-run stand. NZ 91-2, 10.3 overs.

Kane Williamson c & b Ali 32 (28b 3x4 1x6)

Munro is maintaining the momentum via a couple of streaky boundaries to fine leg off Stokes. NZ 89-1-, 10 overs.

Munro has swept Rashid with a reverse hit for a six. NZ 78-1, 9 overs.

Williamson hits the first six of the match clearing his front foot and lofting Stokes over long-off. NZ 66-1, 8 overs.

Munro smashes three consecutive boundaries off Plunkett. NZ 52-1, 6 overs.

Williamson has hooked a short ball from Jordan to the fence. NZ 38-1, 5 overs.

Williamson gets a boundary flicking Plunkett to fine leg. NZ 31-1, 4 overs.

Munro gets into his stride lofting Willey to the long-on fence. NZ 23-1, 3 overs.

Willey draws first blood as Guptill tries to loft only to get a nick behind. NZ 17-1, 2.1 overs.

Martin Guptill c Buttler b Willey 15 (12b 3x4)

Guptill slaps the first ball from Willey over point for a boundary followed by a similar shot to the fence. NZ 11-0, 1 over.

England have won the toss and put New Zealand into bat in the first semifinal in Delhi on Wednesday.

Guptill returns for Henry Nichols.

England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Liam Plunkett.

New Zealand:  Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (capt), Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell McClenaghan

Preview

They are the nearly men of world cricket, with a reputation for faltering at the business end of tournaments.

But a year on from the pain of losing the 50 over World Cup final, skipper Kane Williamson says his unbeaten New Zealand team are a relaxed and fearless unit as they hone in on Twenty20 cricket's biggest prize.

"At the moment the team is very relaxed, going about their business," Williamson told reporters on Tuesday on the eve of New Zealand's World Twenty20 semi-final clash against England in New Delhi.

"Up until now we have been playing fearless cricket and smart cricket and that's what we will try and do again and hope that holds us in good stead in terms of a result.

"But at the same time we are up against a very strong England team that will be trying their best to win the game. So we are looking forward to it. It's going to be exciting."

Williamson took over on the eve of the tournament in India as New Zealand's captain after the retirement of their talisman Brendon McCullum, who went some way to rewriting that reputation for under-achievement.

While New Zealand have never won either of cricket's two major international trophies, they had made it to the semi-finals on seven occasions before McCullum took over.

But although they went one better last year by reaching the final of the World Cup, there was more heartache to come when they were steamrolled by Michael Clarke's Australian team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Favourites tag

Williamson insisted that defeat was not playing on the team's mind but he also resisted talk that the Black Caps' wins over India, Australia and Pakistan in the group stages put them in the rare position of favourites.

"We have made one final and lost, but we don't look at it that closely," said Williamson, who has been one of the stand-out performers in New Zealand's perfect run to the semis.

"I think it's almost impossible in T20 cricket to give someone the favourites tag. It's so fickle in its nature that on any given day the team that plays the best wins and England can beat anyone."

While England are playing their third match in a row at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, it will be the fifth different venue in five tournament matches for the Black Caps.

To date, New Zealand's spinners have taken to the different surfaces like ducks to water and have been so potent that both of the team's main fast bowlers - Trent Boult and Tim Southee - are yet to get a game.

Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi were the top wicket-takers in the group stages while even part-time medium-pacer Grant Elliott weighed in with figures of three for 12, bowling mainly cutters, in the last match against Bangladesh.

"The spinners have been brilliant on surfaces that have suited spin bowling," said Williamson, while holding back from confirming that all his spinners would again start the game.

"We are not quite sure at this stage what to expect. We have seen a few games played on it recently, but we still have to have a good look at the surface and decide.

"There are number of world class bowlers that haven't played a game, still been brilliant in the group and understand that we do the best we can in picking the side for the surface and opposition to try give ourselves the best chance. We have got all 15 players on board with that."

Apart from the question mark over whether off-spinner Nathan McCullum will keep his place, New Zealand are expected to recall key batsman Martin Guptill who was rested for their last group match against Bangladesh.

'Home' advantage

England hope in-form batsman Joe Root and "home" advantage can make the difference against undefeated New Zealand in the first World Twenty20 semi-final on Wednesday.

Eoin Morgan's team will be playing their third match in a row in New Delhi, but for the nomadic Black Caps it will be their fifth different venue in five tournament matches.

"We have become quite settled in Delhi," Morgan said at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

"We have got fantastic support, a fantastic following and actually we have grown used to the pitch a lot more than probably the first game that we were here."

Despite having to adapt to so many different surfaces, New Zealand's formidable spin attack has so far thrived in Indian conditions.

The Kiwis have won the toss, batted first and used their spin bowlers to great effect to defend totals in all four of their group matches.

But Root has also shown his class on different pitches in the tournament, enhancing his reputation as one of the game's classiest acts.

"Root is a class player and he is one of the best around in all three formats of the game at the moment," allrounder Ben Stokes said of his 25-year-old team-mate.

Only India's Virat Kohli of all the players to reach the semi-finals has scored more runs than Root's 168, which included a match-winning 83 against South Africa.

His knock against the Proteas fired England to a successful record chase of 230 and got their bid for a second World T20 title back on track after an opening-match defeat to the West Indies.

The 2010 champions then squeaked past minnows Afghanistan and defending champions Sri Lanka to finish second in Group One on six points behind the West Indies.

England were reduced to 85 for 7 against Afghanistan before eventually winning by 15 runs and then Angelo Mathews' valiant 73 almost saw England come unstuck in a nervous 10-run triumph over Sri Lanka.

Morgan said he expected another "tough game of cricket" but that the earlier matches had shown his team would not buckle under pressure.

"I think it shows the amount of character that we have within the group," he said.

Morgan said that while he felt excited, he did not feel as if he was on the verge of a world cup final.

"We are not getting too far ahead of ourselves as we have got a really tough game against a strong New Zealand side," he said.

"They've probably played the best cricket so far in the group stages and we're going to have to come up with a very strong game of cricket tomorrow to beat New Zealand."

Teams

England (from): Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey

New Zealand (from): Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Grant Elliott, Colin Munro, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.