Aussies’ World Cup in limbo as England hold off Kiwis

AUSTRALIA’S path to the T20 World Cup semi-finals is now hanging by a thread after England held off New Zealand by 20 runs in an enthralling contest at the Gabba.

Glenn Phillips again threatened to single-handedly haul New Zealand to their total and help keep Australia’s destiny in their own hands with a brilliant 62 from 36 balls but England’s bowlers held their nerve late.

The reigning world champions now sit third in Group 1 and will need a thumping win over Afghanistan in their final Super 12 group stage match in Adelaide on Friday to boost their net-run-rate (NRR) with the three sides locked on the same number of points.But Australia’s inferior NRR of -0.304 compared to England (+0.547) and New Zealand (+2.233) means the World Cup hosts are effectively relying on those sides losing their final matches against Sri Lanka and Ireland respectively.