Jason Roy leads England march to the final
By the time Williamson turned to his slower bowlers, both batsmen were well set, and Hales (20) only fell playing a lazy shot, picking out the fielder at long-on. Such was Roy’s domination that the opening partnership was worth 82, even with the usually explosive Hales contributing 20 off 19 balls.
Roy continued in merry vein, muscling the ball so hard that every time he pierced the infield it left the man in the deep with no chance. Grant Elliott, bowling his dibbly dobblies, created a chance, but when Luke Ronchi failed to gather the ball and complete the stumping, it appeared as though nothing was going to go New Zealand’s way on the night.
Against the run of play, however, Roy (78) found a way to get himself out, coming down the pitch to the legspin of Ish Sodhi to york himself and be bowled. By this stage, England was sitting pretty.
And although Morgan fell for a golden duck, the nerveless Joe Root and the bustling Jos Buttler set off fireworks of their own, ensuring England romped to victory with seven wickets and 17 balls to spare.