England Women vs New Zealand Women, 28th Match, Group B, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - CommentaryENGW vs NZW, 28th Match, Group B, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

A statement win from England in front of a record crowd at The Oval just before the semis. West Indies is the other team that managed to sneak into the semis from this group. That's it for today. South Africa vs Bangladesh followed by Australia vs India, who'll make it to the semis from Group A? Tune in tomorrow to find out. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us down here.

Dean (2/2): At The Oval, there is always a little bit of extra bounce. That square, it flies away, so as a bowling unit, you've got a small margin for error. We've got to be really tight with our lines and accurate. As a batting unit, we can put our hands through a few balls, and hopefully that will be the case. Similar conditions on Tuesday or Thursday. Yeah, of course we will (watch England play in the football World Cup). Hopefully we can all go to the pub and watch them.

Charlie Dean (1/2): Brilliant, that's what we set out to do, we wanted to top the group. And to do that in front of such a brilliant crowd tonight has been really special. (On Danni Wyatt-Hodge) To be fair, she's not sleeping well and still scoring absolute runs. She's been exceptional for us. The way she's really pushed her game on and she still wants to get better, and I love that about Danni. She's an ultimate 360 player now, and she's been exceptional for us. (Biggest strength for England in this tournament) Everyone's stepping up at different times. Our batting order has really stepped up when they've needed to, with different people contributing. We know our roles as a bowling group as well and starting to get more comfortable with that. It has been great to have a lot of momentum, and that's what tournament cricket is about - winning the games in front of you and hopefully we can do that again.

Kerr (2/2): If you look at the conditions now after the game, it skidded on a little bit more. But I don't think too much changes in 20-over cricket. If we get more runs to put them under more scoreboard pressure and we bowl a bit tighter, then the game becomes a lot closer. (Learnings from this tournament) We can all recognise it's been a disappointing tournament for us. We'd love to be having a shot in the semis. For us, the exciting thing is there's a lot to work on, and there's still a lot of good stuff we're doing. But if we can get 5% better in the field, with the bat, with the ball, we can be a really dangerous side. There's so much exciting young talent within this group, they're only going to get better and better.

Amelia Kerr (1/2): (On the exit of Bates, Devine and Tahuhu) That's probably the saddest part about it. Three legends of the game leave our environment and women's cricket. The service they've given to this shirt and everything that they've done around the world, they will be missed. We'll make sure we celebrate them tonight. I've learned so much. Coming into the White Ferns as a young kid, those three were there, and mentored me and welcomed me. Along the journey, I've been fortunate to play 10 years of my career with them, which probably back then they didn't think they were going to be able to play that long. So for me, I feel very grateful to have spent that long in a changing room with all three of them. (On today's game) Obviously Ireland gave us a chance to make the semis, and I guess it was in our hands today to give ourselves the best chance. There were moments with the bat where I thought we had a platform, and unfortunately lost a few wickets quickly. But even with 160-odd, if we bowl well, we can give ourselves a chance. Danni played beautifully, but also I think we probably offered up too much width with the ball.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge | Player of the Match: (On being in great form) T20 cricket's a fickle game, isn't it? You've got to start again every time. And it's always a beautiful pitch here at The Oval. Really enjoyed batting out there tonight with my mate Dunks (Dunkley). (On the surface) It's always pretty flat out there. And then once the rain came down, it was getting on quite nicely. We just tried to back ourselves, our strengths, bat with intent and just enjoy out there. (On her shots over extra cover) I fell out of a tree when I was 10, so my wrist has actually grown a weird way, which enables me to hit over there. So, if the ball's there, then I'll try and hit the gaps. Suzie Bates was one of my idols growing up, so, pretty emotional scenes there tonight. Sophie and Lea as well, what amazing careers they've had over the years. They've been outstanding, haven't they? Really, really sad to see them go. We've got to wait for the Aus-India match to see who we're going to play and where. So, we'll just sit tight, watch the football tonight, get our feet up, and be ready.

England, the first team to progress to the semi-final, have won five out of five. They've also answered West Indies' prayers in the process. So, the semi-finalists from Group B are England and West Indies. Coming to this game, New Zealand posted 163 on the board after opting to bat. They got off to a brisk start, lost three quick wickets after that and then forged a couple of crucial partnerships to post a decent total. However, that was inadequate against this England team. Isabella Gaze fluffed a couple of chances in the powerplay and Danni Wyatt-Hodge capitalised. The bowling wasn't disciplined in the powerplay and the hosts struck 9 boundaries in the first six overs to score 57/1. Even after the powerplay, there was nothing that New Zealand could do to stop Danni Wyatt-Hodge - the leading run-getter of this competition. Dunkley have gave her good company and the duo forged a brilliant 128*-run partnership as the hosts wrapped up the proceedings with 16 balls to spare.

Stats by Shashikant Singh

ENG-W have won 12 of the 14 matches against NZ-W since the start of 2024.

England Women lead New Zealand Women 3-0 in the T20 World Cup.

ENG-W have won all five T20Is they have played at the Oval.

Highest successful chases in Women’s T20 WC
164 - ENG vs AUS-, The Oval, 2009 SF
164 - ENG vs NZ, The Oval, 2026*
163 - WI vs NZ, Southampton, 2026
159 - SA vs IND, Manchester, 2026
152 - SL vs SCO, Manchester, 2026

Highest partnerships for ENG-W in T20 WC (any wicket)
169* - Heather Knight & Nat Sciver-Brunt vs THA-W, Canberra, 2020
135 - Danni Wyatt-Hodge & Amy Jones vs SL-W, Edgbaston, 2026
128* - Danni Wyatt-Hodge & Sophia Dunkley vs NZ-W, The Oval, 2026*
122* - Beth Morgan & Claire Taylor vs AUS-W, The Oval, 2009 SF

128* runs stand is also the highest partnership in a Women's T20 World Cup run chases.

Most semi-final appearances in WT20 WCs
9 - AUS-W
7 - ENG-W*
7 - WI-W*
5 - NZ-W

Most runs in a Women’s T20 WC edition
282 - Danni Wyatt-Hodge (ENG, 2026)*
259 - Beth Mooney (AUS, 2020)
257 - Meg Lanning (AUS, 2014)
246 - Stafanie Taylor (WI, 2016)
236 - Alyssa Healy (AUS, 2020)

Most PoTM awards for ENG-W in T20Is
15 - Danni Wyatt-Hodge*
14 - Charlotte Edwards
13 - Nat Sciver-Brunt
12 - Sarah Taylor
12 - Heather Knight

New Zealand became only the second defending champions, after England (2010), to exit the Women's T20 World Cup in the group stage.

21:43 Local Time, 20:43 GMT, 02:13 IST: New Zealand, the defending champions, had their fate in their own hands after Ireland's win, but they suffered their third loss and are out of the competition in the group stage. No fairy tale ending for Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu who have played their last international game. The England and New Zealand players are giving the three veterans a guard of honour. Really amazing scenes here at The Oval. Plenty of hugs and obviously some tears as well.

England are just one win away from sealing this