England crush New Zealand to reach World Cup semis

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England advanced to the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup in style after thrashing New Zealand by 119 runs at Chester-le-Street.

New Zealand could only manage 186 runs in reply to the hosts’ total of 305 for 8.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Jonny Bairstow (106) and Jason Roy (60) got England off to a flying start with an opening partnership of 123 runs.

They looked set for a huge score at 194-1 off 30 overs but managed only 111 in the last 20 overs.

Tom Latham (57) top-scored for New Zealand, while Mark Wood (3-34) was the pick of the England bowlers.

The victory means England will definitely finish in the top four of the group stage along with Australia and India, while New Zealand will have to wait for other results to see if they reach the next round.

The Black Caps look safe at the moment as it will take a massive change in net run-rate for Pakistan to overtake them in the table even if Sarfaraz Ahmed's side beat Bangladesh on Friday.

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