England beat New Zealand by four wickets in a thrilling finish at the T20 World Cup, chasing down 160 with three balls to spare to top their Super 8 group.

Will Jacks, named player of the match, and Rehan Ahmed produced a late burst of hitting at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, rescuing England from a difficult position and keeping Pakistan's semi-final hopes alive in the process.

Spinners tie New Zealand down

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat, and openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert raced to 54 without loss in the powerplay. The introduction of spin changed the match. Adil Rashid and Will Jacks slowed the scoring and triggered a middle-order collapse, and England's spinners bowled a record 16 overs between them.

Glenn Phillips made a gritty 39, but New Zealand were restricted to 159 for seven from their 20 overs. Rachin Ravindra later took three wickets for 19 runs, but his efforts with the ball were not enough to defend the total.

England stumble, then recover

England's chase began badly. Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson struck with the new ball, removing Phil Salt and Jos Buttler early, and England slipped to two for two, then 58 for four and 117 for six. New Zealand looked firmly in control, and a win for them would have ended Pakistan's interest in the tournament.

Tom Banton made 33 and Sam Curran helped steady the innings, but the asking rate kept climbing and England needed 21 runs from the final two overs. Jacks then took 22 runs from an over bowled by Phillips, and he and Ahmed finished the job in the final over, Jacks ending unbeaten on 32 from 18 balls and Ahmed on 19 from seven. The pair added 44 runs in just 16 balls for the seventh wicket.

What the result means

The win was England's third in a row in the second round, and they topped Group 2 with six points and a net run rate of 1.096. England were already through to the semi-finals, and they will almost certainly head to Mumbai for the second semi-final.

New Zealand missed the chance to secure their own semi-final place. They finished with three points from three matches and now depend on the result of Pakistan's match against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. Pakistan must beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs, or chase down their target inside 13.1 overs, for New Zealand to miss out; anything less and the Kiwis go through on net run rate.

England captain Harry Brook praised his side's composure after the match, with Jacks collecting his fourth player-of-the-match award of the competition. For New Zealand, the defeat was a painful one after they had England in trouble for much of the chase, but they still have a route to the last four if the final group match goes their way.