A vicious batting assault by Jason Roy has powered England to the final of the ICC World T20 with a seven wicket triumph over New Zealand in Delhi.
Set 154 to win, the Surrey right-hander came out all guns blazing and blitzed England to the brink of victory, leaving Joe Root and Jos Buttler with the comfortable task of easing their country over the line.
Roy began his boundary glut by tucking into the opening over from Corey Anderson, which leaked four fours.
Within the opening seven overs, he had posted a 26-ball 50 – his first in T20 internationals and the second fastest ever for England.
Alex Hales played the supporting role to perfection, albeit with the occasional flourish to the boundary, and 82 runs were on the board by the time the first wicket fell in the ninth over.
Hales was the man to go, caught at long-on for 20 after being deceived in flight by the left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner.
Back-to-back dismissals for New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi in the 13th over, finally dislodging Roy clean bowled moments before Eoin Morgan was lbw for a golden duck, briefly revived faint hopes for the Kiwis.
But, with the required run-rate having plummeted, Root and Buttler were just the men to take England home.
Root stuck to his classical style in easing to 27 not out off 22 deliveries. Buttler opted for a period of reconnaissance before picking up the pace and powering England over the line with three huge maximums.
The elegant right-hander became the tournament’s leading scorer, Buttler faced just 17 balls for his 32 not out, and together they collected the 49 runs that made a place in the final safe for Trevor Bayliss’s men.
Morgan had earlier won the toss and elected to field at the Feroz Shah Kotla, a stadium at which they had already recorded victories against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the tournament.
Martin Guptill came out blazing and struck three off-side fours before attempting one drive too many off David Willey and perishing caught behind for 15.
Colun Munro ensured that the Kiwis compromised none of their aggression as a result of the early breakthrough, striking Liam Plunkett for three successive boundaries as the six over powerplay concluded at 51-1.
Kane Williamson, the Black Caps skipper who had survived a sharp chance to Adil Rashid on three, played the shot of the innings in the 8th over as his classical straight drive disappeared over the head of Ben Stokes for six.
Munro’s method was more unorthodox, featuring a switch-hit six and more than one fortuitous edge to the boundary, but no less effective – and the duo propelled New Zealand to 89-1 at the halfway stage.
Moeen Ali clung-on to a pressure caught & bowled to remove Williamson for 32 and keep England in the hunt.
The off-spinning all-rounder held his nerve for a second time, this time at third man off Plunkett, to dismiss Munro for 46 - 107-3 after 12.2 overs.
Chris Jordan bagged the wicket of Ross Taylor in the 17th over for six, leaving New Zealand on 136-4 with 18 balls to go.
A pair of Ben Stokes full tosses brought the back-to-back wickets of Luke Ronchi (3) and Anderson (28) in the 18th as the England fight-back continued.
And, after Jordan reaffirmed his status as one of the world’s best at the death by competing figures of 1-24, the Sussex paceman took a simple catch at long-off to dismiss Santner for seven and hand Stokes career-best figures of 3-26.
Jos Buttler thwarted Mitchell McClenaghan’s attempt at a scampered bye to close the innings with a wicket, meaning the Kiwis had to be content with a below-par total of 153-8.
It proved to be nowhere near enough, and England are one game away from glory.
England are returning to the scene of their Ashes triumph in 2016 for Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Don't miss the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world go toe-to-toe in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge and secure your seats now.