Roy's joy as England humble favourites New Zealand to reach World Twenty20 final

Jason Roy is preparing himself for the 'mind blowing' prospect of a World Twenty20 final at Eden Gardens after his runs helped England to a dominant victory over New Zealand.
England's Jos Buttler, right, embraces teammate Joe Root after defeating New Zealand.England's Jos Buttler, right, embraces teammate Joe Root after defeating New Zealand.
England's Jos Buttler, right, embraces teammate Joe Root after defeating New Zealand.

England’s semi-final performance against the well-fancied Black Caps was their best to date, built around the clinical death bowling of Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes, an energetic performance in the field and some brazen strokeplay from the batsmen.

Roy led the way with a career-best 78 in 44 balls as England powered past their target of 154 with seven wickets and 17 deliveries remaining.

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The West Indies or hosts India await in one of the game’s most famous coliseums in Kolkata – and Roy is eager to taste the moment.

“It’s pretty cool. Just another game of cricket...it just happens to be at Eden Gardens in the World Cup final in front of 100,000 people,” he said.

“It’s something that we’re really buzzing for, it’s going to be an incredible experience and we can’t wait.

“It’s mind blowing. There is no better feeling, the joy on everyone’s faces was special and something that will stay very close to my heart for the rest of my career.”

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Roy might have over-estimated the modern capacity of the final venue, which is officially listed at 66,000 these days, but it is easy to forgive a little exuberance after such an intoxicating performance.

Stokes and Jordan turned in figures of 3-26 and 1-24 as they refused to allow New Zealand off the leash. Five wickets fell for just 20 in the last four overs, after which England pursued hungrily.

Roy smashed 11 fours and two sixes to undermine New Zealand’s status as the competition’s most miserly attack and when he fell Joe Root (32 not out) and Jos Buttler (27no) finished things quickly amid a blaze of sixes.

“It’s pretty special for me, to get this group of boys to a final - but it wasn’t just me. Today was as good as it probably gets in winning a T20 game.

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“The bowlers were outstanding towards the end, their skill sets were amazing.

“The momentum we carried over from the end of their innings to ours was outstanding. It was just perfect.

“The situation Rooty came in to was perfect for him, a nice calm head, and he just finished it off with Jos, who has explosive power at the end.”

Captain Eoin Morgan, the only survivor from England’s World T20-winning side of 2010, knows exactly what it means to reach a showpiece on the global stage.

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“Making a final is the kind of thing you dream of as a kid,” he said.

“Everyone in the dressing room has worked tremendously hard and made a lot of sacrifices to put us in this position.

“A lot of things have gone our way and we have earned the right to play the way we do and hopefully it can be our day in the final.”

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was not ready to anoint England as champions-elect and believes the winners will be whoever deals best with the change in conditions. “I certainly think England can win but any of the other two teams can win it. It’s tough,” he said.

Match report: Page 23