England beat New Zealand as they warm up for T20 Cricket World Cup

A 13-run win over New Zealand finished England’s preparations for the 2021 T20 Cricket World Cup in the Middle East. After posting 163 and bowling New Zealand out for 150 England look ready to take on defending champions West Indies on Saturday for their first World Cup cricket match.

Impressive performances from England’s Mark Wood and Adil Rashid saw England past the Black Caps in Abu Dhabi this afternoon. England batted first after losing the toss and Tymal Mills found his place in the team as a bowler. New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson fielded rather than bowled in today’s match, however many felt as though he was a miss in New Zealand’s middle order with fans critical of New Zealand’s ‘poor’ batting performance. After 3 warm up matches for the World Cup this year, New Zealand only came out winners in one, but fans seemingly remain confident after ‘tough luck’ and ‘hard games. As for England, Captain Eoin Morgan has been self-critical, saying he would ‘drop himself’ from England squad if it was beneficial to the team, however his impressive performance today showed this might not be needed.

Around the Middle East, preparations continued for other nations with favourites India beating England’s Super 12 group A rivals Australia. With 2 wins out of 2 Scotland stand with 4 points as they look to ‘leave a legacy’ by qualifying for T20 World Cup after stunning Bangladesh