Colombo: New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat against England in the 49th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
Playing XIs
England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook (catch), Jacob Bethel, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (W), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (catch), Cole McConaughey, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi and Lockie Ferguson.
head-to-head
Historically, England and New Zealand men have met 27 times in T20Is, with the former holding a dominant head-to-head record of 16 wins, compared to 10 for the Blackcaps.
The Three Lions are top of the T20 World Cup record with four wins from seven matches against New Zealand.
Their last meeting in the tournament came in the 2022 edition, in which England won by 20 runs.
Matches: 27
England: 16
New Zealand: 10
No result: 1
Form Guide
Both England and New Zealand enter the match with similar momentum as they have only lost once in their last five T20Is.
New Zealand are a must-win in the upcoming match to qualify for the semi-finals, while England are assured of a place in the last four following a win over Pakistan.
England: W, W, W, W, L (Most recent first)
New Zealand: W, NR, W, L, W