New Zealand concluded their disappointing T20 World Cup campaign in style as they swept aside Papua New Guinea, emerging seven-wicket victors in Trinidad. 

Lockie Ferguson starred for the Black Caps, becoming the first bowler at a men's T20 World Cup to bowl four maiden overs in a spell, claiming three wickets to dismiss their opponents for 78.

Trent Boult ended with figures of 2-14 after taking out Hiri Hiri and Norman Vanua in what could be his T20I for his nation, after declaring this World Cup would be his last in this format.

New Zealand started their chase shakily following the early loss of Finn Allen in the second ball of their reply, but Devon Conway's knock of 35 from 32 steadied the ship for Kane Williamson's side. 

Conway hit three sixes before falling to Semo Kamea, with Williamson and Daryl Mitchell on hand to secure a Black Caps win and end the tournament on a high after they exited a World Cup before the last four for the first time since 2014.

 

Data Debrief: Fantastic Ferguson dazzles 

Ferguson's hugely impressive display saw him also become the second bowler in T20Is to record four maiden overs.

The last to achieve that feat was Canada's Saad Bin Zafar, who took two wickets without conceding a run against Panama in a T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier in 2021.

 

New Zealand's Trent Boult has confirmed that he will not play at another T20 World Cup.

Boult, who has 32 wickets in 17 outings in the tournament, will prepare for the Black Caps' final game of this year's edition against Papua New Guinea on Monday.

New Zealand exited a World Cup before the last four for the first time since 2014 after losing their opening games to Afghanistan and West Indies. 

Despite earning their maiden win of the tournament against Uganda, Monday's fixture against Papua New Guinea means little for New Zealand.

And 34-year-old Boult confirmed that match will be his final appearance at a T20 World Cup.

"Speaking on behalf of myself, this will be my last T20 World Cup," Boult told the media.

With him bowing out from the T20 World Cup, the Black Caps will now have to fill a gaping hole in their bowling attack for 2026.

In the current squad, only three players will be under 30-years-old, with Tim Southee another standout name who looks set to step back in the coming years.

Both Boult and Southee have played a pivotal role in recent ODI and T20 World Cups, and Boult is hopeful the latest edition of the competition will not be the last time he features alongside his good friend. 

"I look at the partnership with Tim with very fond memories," he said. "We bowled a lot of overs together. I know the partnership very well, and obviously he's a very good friend on and off the ground.

"It was nice to wind back the clock a little bit and see a bit of swing bowling at the top. Some great memories, and hopefully a couple more still to come."

New Zealand's Trent Boult has confirmed that he will not play at another T20 World Cup.

Boult, who has 32 wickets in 17 outings in the tournament, will prepare for the Black Caps' final game of this year's edition against Papua New Guinea on Monday.

New Zealand exited a World Cup before the last four for the first time since 2014 after losing their opening games to Afghanistan and West Indies. 

Despite earning their maiden win of the tournament against Uganda, Monday's fixture against Papua New Guinea means little for New Zealand.

And 34-year-old Boult confirmed that match will be his final appearance at a T20 World Cup.

"Speaking on behalf of myself, this will be my last T20 World Cup," Boult told the media.

With him bowing out from the T20 World Cup, the Black Caps will now have to fill a gaping hole in their bowling attack for 2026.

In the current squad, only three players will be under 30-years-old, with Tim Southee another standout name who looks set to step back in the coming years.

Both Boult and Southee have played a pivotal role in recent ODI and T20 World Cups, and Boult is hopeful the latest edition of the competition will not be the last time he features alongside his good friend. 

"I look at the partnership with Tim with very fond memories," he said. "We bowled a lot of overs together. I know the partnership very well, and obviously he's a very good friend on and off the ground.

"It was nice to wind back the clock a little bit and see a bit of swing bowling at the top. Some great memories, and hopefully a couple more still to come."

India missed the chance to make it four wins from as many T20 World Cup games after their final group clash with Canada was abandoned due to rain in Florida.

Rohit Sharma's side had already secured progression from Group A to the Super 8s, while co-hosts Canada could not escape the pool after two losses and a sole victory.

The match on Saturday was called off without a ball being bowled due to the persistent downpour at Lauderhill.

India, Australia, and Afghanistan have all qualified to feature in Group 1 of the Super 8s, which starts on Wednesday.

Scotland all-rounder Michael Leask sees no reason why his side cannot score a surprise upset over Australia to secure their T20 World Cup progression on Saturday.

Group B remains wide open heading into the final day of pool action when England face Namibia before Scotland will know what result is required when they meet Australia later in the day.

Scotland are two points clear of England, though Jos Buttler's side have a superior net run-rate after hammering Oman in a complete thrashing on Thursday to keep their Super 8s hopes alive.

England will be expected to overcome Namibia earlier in the day, leaving it likely Scotland must overcome already-qualified Australia to seal their group-stage progression.

Although Scotland have lost all five white-ball meetings with Australia, each coming in the 50-over format, Leask believes his team should be confident heading into the game.

"Australia are one of the best in the world," Leask said.

"It is going to be a tough game, but why can't we go and do what we've done before and cause an upset?"

Scotland are in this position after their washout against England before a commanding victory over Namibia, while Buttler's side are trailing due to their defeat to Australia.

An unlikely scenario still brings the chance for Scotland to lose by a narrow margin and progress even if England beat Namibia, and Leask says this situation was always on the cards.

"We knew coming into this game it would be," he said. "England had two tough games to play and they've played the first one very well.

"We always knew this was going to be a must-win game for us and it's a hell of an opportunity for us to go and play really good cricket and take on one of the best in the world."

Josh Hazlewood mooted the idea that Australia may concede the game in a certain manner to send England out, though team-mate Pat Cummins believes a decision like that is not plausible.

Regardless, Leask insists Scotland are firing on all cylinders before this decider.

"Our boys are firing, we've got some good skill sets, some nice spinners, some good seamers and then batters who are playing really well," Leask said.

"We're going at this game quietly confident. Our batters are probably going to have to step up knowing we're facing the best in the world.

"They've probably got the best all-round bowling attack in the world. It's going to have to be two or three batters in that batting innings that are really going to have to put Australia under the pump with a ball.

"We know that it's capable of happening and that's possible."

Joe Root has no doubts over Jos Buttler's England captaincy, backing the white-ball skipper to continue despite T20 World Cup struggles.

Matthew Mott's side are on the brink of an early elimination this month, with their 20-over title defence seemingly crumbling without escaping the group stage.

England struggled before rain washed out their opener with Scotland, who are the favourites to progress after Australia overcame Buttler's side on Saturday.

The defending champions must beat Oman and Namibia, while needing Australia to overcome Scotland by a less-than-narrow margin to have any hopes of going through on net run-rate.

That has brought questions over Buttler's tenure as England captain, though Root placed his backing in the 33-year-old, a former international team-mate and good friend of his.

"Jos is one of my good friends," the England Test star said. "I think he's a brilliant captain, so I don't think there's any question.

"I think they'll be absolutely fine, they've got a wonderful squad of players. They know exactly what they need to do.

"When it's all laid out and they've got their backs to the wall, which they have in this situation now, is when they play their best cricket.

"It could really bring the best out of them, so I've got no worries whatsoever.

"If they go out and do what they all know that they're capable of doing, we'll be finding ourselves in the Super 8s and the back-end of the tournament where it really matters to play our best stuff."

England face Oman on Thursday before meeting Namibia on Saturday, when Scotland go against Australia later in the day, boasting the advantage of knowing what result is required to progress.

That is on the minds of Australian players, too, with bowler Josh Hazlewood weighing up the options of helping send England out of the competition.

England coach Mott hopes the Australia quick's comments were in jest, though matters could be out of his side's hands come the weekend in the United States and West Indies.

Rohit Sharma was left with an overwhelming sense of relief after India staved off a spirited United States to reach the Super 8s at the T20 World Cup.

Rahul Dravid's white-ball side progressed through the group stages with a game to spare after Wednesday's seven-wicket victory over the co-hosts in New York.

Having already overcome struggling Ireland and fierce rivals Pakistan, a third straight win in Group A was enough to send India through as Rohit's team prepare for the latter stages of the tournament.

Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten half-century proved the difference against the USA, helping his country chase down a 111-run target with 10 balls remaining.

It could have been a different story, however, as India lost Rohit (three) and Virat Kohli to a golden duck in the start to their chase.

That stark warning left a lasting imprint on Rohit's memory as the India captain credited the battling USA showing.

"We knew it was going to be a tough task, scoring that many," Rohit said at his post-match interview. "Credit to us for chasing it down.

"SKY and [Shivam] Dube did well in the end. We knew our bowlers had to take the lead as scoring is tough on this pitch.

"Arshdeep [Singh] started off magnificently. We want options with us. As and when we feel like we could use them, we should be and that's what Dube allowed.

"Being in the Super 8s is a big relief. Playing here wasn't easy, it could've been anyone's game."

USA still have a chance of progressing to the next round after back-to-back victories over Canada and Pakistan.

"The boys were disciplined today, pleased that the game got close," USA captain Aaron Jones said. "We've wanted fans, talked about it for a couple of years.

"We'll come hard against Ireland for sure."

Adam Zampa hit a milestone as Australia reached the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup with a resounding nine-wicket thrashing of Namibia.

Leg-spinner Zampa took 4-12 to reach a century of wickets in the shortest format, as Namibia were bowled out for just 72 in 17 overs in Antigua.

Australia needed just 34 balls to surpass that total, with Travis Head's unbeaten 34 from 17 deliveries propelling them to a comprehensive win.

David Warner (20) was the only Australian to lose his wicket, with captain Mitchell Marsh (18 not out) hitting the winning runs.

Australia are now top of Group B ahead of facing surprise package Scotland on Sunday. 

Tuesday's other match, between Sri Lanka and Nepal, was called off due to rain without a ball having been bowled.

The abandonment of that match in Florida means that Sri Lanka's hopes of qualifying for the next round are all but over.

Sri Lanka are bottom of Group D with just one match left to play, against the Netherlands on Monday.

Data Debrief: Zampa makes history

Zampa is the first Australian to reach the century landmark for wickets in T20Is, while his 12 runs conceded against Namibia is the joint-lowest total of any player for Australia from a full four overs in a T20 World Cup match.

Gerhard Erasmus was the only player to impress for Namibia. He scored 36 runs, 50 per cent of his team's total. 

That is the highest proportion of any batter in a Namibia T20 World Cup innings.

Babar Azam lauded a much-needed T20 World Cup victory for Pakistan against Canada on Tuesday, though still regretted his side not wrapping up the win sooner.

Pakistan made light work of their 107-run target in New York, easing to their first win at this year's competition with 15 balls to spare and still boasting seven wickets in hand.

Mohammad Rizwan made a run-a-ball 53 in the chase, while captain Babar added 33 in what proved to be a routine victory.

Yet having already suffered a shock opening defeat to the United States and a low-scoring loss to rivals India, Babar was frustrated Pakistan could not finish the task sooner against Canada.

"Good for us, we need this win," Babar said during his post-match interview. "We started well with the bowling, in the first six overs we knew we had to be up to the mark.

"[Net run-rate] was in our mind, to win before 14 overs but the pitch made it difficult."

Mohammad Amir managed an economical 2-13 from his four-over spell as Canada's batters failed to get going against Pakistan.

The Pakistan bowler was named Player of the Match for his efforts, referencing a need for adaptability in the USA and West Indies.

"As a bowler you have to adopt the conditions, what the conditions are demanding," Amir said. "My role is very clear, what I'm going to do with the new ball and at the death.

"That's why I'm getting that success. That was a very important win. One more, who knows..."

Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar, meanwhile, was left frustrated.

"Definitely, it was a bit disappointing," he said. "We wanted to play a positive brand of cricket and I think the wicket was not very helpful.

"It was difficult to bat early on; not a good toss to lose. We were about 25 to 30 runs short."

England must "earn the right" to start thinking about T20 World Cup permutations, says Jos Buttler, whose side face a humiliating early exit in the group stage.

Matthew Mott's white-ball  were defeated by Australia on Saturday, with their 36-run loss leaving them staring at a group-stage elimination in their T20I title defence.

That result was compounded by Scotland's thrashing of Oman with 41 balls to spare as England suffered another blow to their hopes of progressing via net run-rate.

Another must-win match against Oman looms on Thursday, where England have to triumph before any other calculations of permutations can begin, says captain Buttler.

"I don't think it's s**t or bust quite yet," Buttler told reporters in Antigua. "I think it's quite clear what we need to do and how we need to play.

"First and foremost, we need to win the game against Oman to have any chance going forward into the next one.

"So we have to earn the right to try and win the game. And if we can get ourselves in a position to affect our net run-rate, obviously that's what we need to do."

England then face Namibia on Saturday to round off their group-stage campaign, though two victories for Buttler's side may still not be enough.

Scotland could still knock them out by beating Australia in their final match after England meet Namibia, when the Scots will have an advantage of a clear picture of what is required.

"We've looked at a few little bits but it's going to be ever-changing throughout the game," Buttler added.

"I don't think we need to consume too much energy today and tomorrow saying 'we need to score 'X' amount of runs or win by this much'. I think those kinds of things will develop on the day.

"That's the situation we find ourselves in, so we have to be aware of that, but not be consumed by that.

"If we try and do that bit first and forget about trying to win the game and lose, then you've got no chance anyway.

"So I'd rather have some kind of chance going into the last game, and know exactly what we need to."

England's white-ball struggles at the tournament have raised questions about Buttler's captaincy and coach Mott's tenure.

Buttler has no interest in the speculation surrounding his stewardship, however.

"I care more about the team than the media and the outside noise," he added. "That's always there, it's part of international sport. If you get to this level, you have to be able to deal with it, the job you guys do, that's the job TV does.

"It's probably harder to completely ignore it in this day and age, but there's a level of acceptance. Our focus has to be on what we can do with our performance.

"I've played the game long enough now to know that it's very good at building people up and pretty good at criticising when it doesn't go right, especially in England.

"I do the same thing when I'm watching a game of football or rugby – 'how's he missed that from there?' 'How did he miss from one-yard out', or 'someone's dropped the ball over the line'. Simple things like that.

"People care. That's why we're able to do what we do because people care and they want to watch. We're a proud team, we want to perform really well for all the fans.

"But to be honest, all the focus is on us and how well we can play. If we play as well as we can, we'll make our fans happy."

Gary Kirsten says Pakistan's poor decision-making was the deciding factor in their six-run defeat to India at the T20 World Cup on Sunday. 

The result leaves Pakistan bottom of Group A following their shock loss to the United States in their opening game of the tournament.

Having won the toss and elected to bowl first, Pakistan were aided by rain interruptions and dismissed their opponents for 119.

They also made a good start with the bat as Mohammad Rizwan laid the platform for the chase after scoring 31 from 44 balls. 

However, their middle-order batters failed to step up as Jasprit Bumrah (3-14) made crucial breakthroughs and bowled 15 dot balls to maintain India's unbeaten start to their campaign. 

"Disappointing loss, that's for sure," Kirsten said shortly after the defeat. 

"I knew 120 was not going to be an easy target. If India got only 120, it was always going to be not the easiest. But I think we had the game at 72 for 2 with six or seven overs left. Disappointing not to get across the line from the position we got ourselves into."

Kirsten was asked where the game slipped from their hands. "Decision-making," he said. 

"You have got the game on, run a ball, eight wickets in hand, decision-making at that point. That's the game. That's international cricket for you.

"You make mistakes like that, you are going to pay. I thought we made some poor decisions at important phases of the game. I thought Rizwan played well for us. We knew it was going to be a tough wicket to bat on. We managed the chase very well but then just let it slip in the end."

Pakistan travel to New York to face Canada on Tuesday with India squaring off against the hosts at the same venue a day later.

Uganda made T20 World Cup history as they were bowled out for only 39 runs by West Indies in Guyana.

The T20 World Cup debutants lasted just 12 overs, as they matched the Netherlands (v Sri Lanka in 2014) for the lowest-ever total in the tournament.

It was a convincing, 134-run victory for tournament co-hosts West Indies, who have won both of their matches and are second in Group C behind Afghanistan.

Batting first, the Windies posted 173-5. Johnson Charles was their top scorer with 44 runs from 42 balls, while Andre Russell plundered an unbeaten 30 that included six fours.

Akeal Hosein swiftly set about dismantling Uganda's batting line-up, with Juma Miyagi the only player to reach double figures for the minnows.

Data Debrief: Career highlight for Hosein

Hosein was the star of the show for the Windies, with his career-best bowling figures of 5-11.

That made him the first West Indies bowler to take five wickets in a match at the T20 World Cup.

Jos Buttler laid the challenge to his England charges to "dust ourselves down and go again" as his team face the possibility of an early exit from the T20 World Cup.

England lost by 36 runs to old foes Australia on Saturday in Bridgetown, leaving them fourth in Group B.

With second-place Scotland facing lowly Oman on Sunday, England are in real danger of slumping out of the tournament early.

And Buttler knows the task is now for reigning champions England to turn matters around in their next two group matches if they wish to go on and defend their title.

"We need to play with a lot of confidence," he said.

"It's all laid out what we need to do so we need to dust ourselves down and go again."

Buttler was England's highest scorer, with 42, as they finished on 165-6 from their 20 overs.

England's captain and fellow opener Phil Salt had started well when chasing down a target of 202, accumulating 73 without loss.

But Salt's dismissal by Adam Zampa, who then sent Buttler packing, was a blow from which England failed to recover.

"We did have a bright start. Outside the powerplay was always going to be the challenge, we saw that in their innings," Buttler said.

"Credit to Australia, Adam Zampa bowled very well and in the middle overs the pacers were very disciplined.

"I thought they came out with a lot of intent and played really well and put us under a lot of pressure straight away. It was tough to drag it back from there. They bowled really well in that middle phase, took wickets at regular times and defended really well.

"There is always hindsight and a lot of decisions you can change or do earlier. There were a couple of soft balls where we could have saved boundaries."

Jofra Archer took 1-28 and was the only England bowler to avoid significant damage, as he works his way back to form after an injury-hit couple of years.

"He bowled really well," Buttler said of the paceman. "It looks like he hasn't been away at all. He is a great bowler to call on as a captain. He's got so much variety and skill and we're lucky to have him back."

Zampa was named player of the match, taking 2-28. The spinner has taken at least one wicket in each of his last 12 innings at the T20 World Cup, including two in each of his last four matches.

"We've played against England a lot, so we know a lot about their players," he said.

"We've played here before and we knew about the long grease side. It was difficult to hit sixes out there and we made it our game plan.

"It is one of those places you don't know about until you bowl a few balls on, I was just keen to get some pace on and aim at the stumps.

"We have a great depth with our bowling attack. We all have different roles and you saw some of us bowling really defensively to stop runs."

Anrich Nortje earned a recall to South Africa's fold as he was included in the Proteas' 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup.

Nortje has been in action in the Indian Premier League, but has not played for South Africa, who will be captained by Aiden Markram, in nine months.

While he has taken seven wickets in six matches for the Delhi Capitals, Nortje has gone at 13.36 runs per over, but has been given the nod due to his pace.

"Anrich has got another month before the World Cup starts so I have no doubt he'll hit his straps," South Africa coach Rob Walter said.

"It's good to see that his speed is up. The one thing Anrich has that separates him from others is raw pace. There's not many guys who can bowl 150kph and he can. Pace is an X-factor."

Lungi Ngidi has missed out, though he is a travelling reserve. 

Quinton de Kock has not not been in good form, but has made the cut due to historical performances. He is no longer under contract at Cricket South Africa (CSA) and retired from ODIs last year.

"Quinny, we've seen him do it time and time again for us," Walter said.

"Reeza [Hendricks] has been a star performer for us in T20 cricket, was a standout in this domestic CSA T20 challenge again, and Ryan Rickelton has had two outstanding competitions really where he's played the brand of cricket that we're looking to play.

"And then we're going to have Markram and that'll be the top order. It's mostly a performance-based decision and from Quinton's point of view is just a real knowledge of what he's capable of."

Rickelton and Ottniel Baartman have been standout performers in the SA20 this year, and could earn their maiden T20I caps.

South Africa did not make it out of the Super 12 stage at the last World Cup in 2022. 

Three big players, Temba Bavuma, Rilee Rossouw and Wayne Parnell, have missed out compared to the squad for that tournament.

The Proteas start their World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 3, after playing a warm-up series against West Indies.

South Africa squad:

Aiden Markram (capt), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.

England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott expects "box office" fast bowler Jofra Archer will be back to his best in time for this year's Ashes and Cricket World Cup.

Archer returned for England against South Africa in January after spending just under two years out of action with elbow and back problems.

The 27-year-old managed just one wicket for 81 runs in his first game back but, after being rested for the second ODI, he took 6-40 in the final match of England's 2-1 series loss.

With five wickets to his name across two appearances on England's tour of Bangladesh, Mott is pleased with Archer's progress but believes there is still more to come.

"He's a box office player," Mott said. "He's fitted back into the group beautifully and it's an incredible effort for a fast bowler to be out for that long and come back and play as he has.

"He would admit that he's not fully firing on all cylinders. You can just see he's ticking all the boxes to get back to his best.

"He just seems to be really slowly, strategically making sure he's doing it right and ticking over and come the Ashes, come the World Cup, I'm sure you'll see him back to his best."

Wednesday will mark 100 days until the start of England's Ashes series with Australia, while the World Cup gets under way four months later in India.

Mott was again asked whether Ben Stokes will compete at the World Cup, with the all-rounder recently suggesting he may consider reversing his decision to end his 50-over international career.

"I'm still in touch with him but the issue about when he wants to play, we don't need to know for a while," Mott said. 

"The worst thing we could do is try to put pressure on him early to make a decision. We'll just see how his body's holding up and how he's feeling physically and mentally."

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