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Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks smashed 44 off 16 balls to take England to a thrilling four-wicket T20 World Cup win in Colombo that denied New Zealand a guaranteed place in the semi-finals but kept Pakistan\u2019s slender hopes alive.<\/strong><\/p>\n New Zealand would have joined England in the knockouts with a win in their final Super Eights match and they scored 159-6 after opting to bat.<\/p>\n England lost wickets early and looked like they would be squeezed out at 117-6, needing 43 from the last three overs.<\/p>\n But Ahmed and Jacks took 22 off the 18th over from Glenn Phillips to turn the match on its head.<\/p>\n Ahmed blasted 19 off seven balls in his first T20 World Cup match alongside Jacks, who made an unbeaten 32 off 18, to see England to 161-6 with three balls to spare.<\/p>\n England will move on to a semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday against either India or the West Indies, who clash on Sunday to decide the final semi-final berth.<\/p>\n New Zealand now have to wait on the outcome of Saturday\u2019s clash between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Kandy to know if they have qualified for a semi-final in Kolkata against South Africa.<\/p>\n Pakistan have an inferior run rate so need to win by 65 runs or inside 13 overs to overtake the Kiwis and deny them a place in the final four. If Pakistan qualify then the semi-final would be played in Colombo.<\/p>\n England used five spinners to bowl 16 of the 20 overs on a turning track. The 2010 and 2022 champions had never bowled so many overs of spin before in a T20 international.<\/p>\n Jacks returned the best figures with 2-23, while Adil Rashid picked up 2-28 and is now England\u2019s leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 11.<\/p>\n Rashid was complemented by fellow wrist spinner Ahmed, who was called up in place of Jamie Overton, and took a wicket with his first ball before finishing with 2-28 from three overs.<\/p>\n Glenn Phillips top scored with 39 off 28 including four fours and a six while opener Tim Seifert scored 35.<\/p>\n Liam Dawson (1-32) and Jacob Bethell (0-13) were the other spinners employed by England.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n