Good depth bowling, led by Ben Stokes, helped England restrict New Zealand to 154 runs, after Kiwis looked to be running away with the match here in the first semi-final of World T20.
After scoring 89 runs in the first 10 overs, the Black Caps managed just 64 off the final ten to succumb to 154 here at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.
Stokes was at the heart of the damage control for England. After giving 18 runs off his first two overs, the right-arm medium pacer gave just eight runs in his last two overs to end up with a decent 3/26.
He took two wickets in the 18th over and gave only five runs. He followed it up by giving just three runs in the final over as well as picking up a wicket and running out a New Zealand batsman (Mitchell McCleneghan) in the last ball to put England in the driving seat.
With dew in mind, England skipper Eoin Morgan chose to field first after winning the toss. Also the idea of chasing a set target to see the way the pitch responds following the women's semi-final between England and Australia that took place in the same wicket earlier in the day, made England bowl first.
However, the decision seemed to backfire early on. Starting with a four of the very first ball from David Willey, Martin Guptill was in the mood to hit big.
In front of a 35,000 enthusiastic crowd, the Kiwis pinch-hitter followed the aggressive hitting with two more fours. But Willey got his man in the third over, when Guptill's attempted shot, edged its way to Buttler to give England the breakthrough.
However, the fall off wicket did not hamper New Zealand's run rate. New batsman Colin Munro was at his game from word go.
Notably, in the sixth over, Munro struck three consecutive fours off liam Plunkett to help Kiwis reach fifty in just 5.4 overs. He was supported well by skipper Kane Williamson in the other end.
The duo reached the fifty-run partnership in just 36 balls to keep them in contention of more than 190 runs.
However, Moeen Ali brought an end to the partnership (74 runs from 50 balls) in the eleventh over. Kane's attempted shot went high in the sky and Ali ran back to complete a decent catch off his own bowling. New Zealand were 91/2 at that stage.
Two overs later, Plunkett brought an end to Munro's well constructed innings of 46 runs from 32 balls (7 fours and a six). Munro tried to hit one over the park, only to miscue it completely as the ball ended in the hands of Ali in the third man to give England another crucial breakthrough.
New batsman Corey Anderson struck some good blows to increase the run rate to keep Kiwis in touching distance of a challenging score.
With 170 still possible to get, England hampered Kiwis run rate considerably, getting three wickets in the space of 10 balls.
First, it was Ross Talyor (six runs off 8 balls) to depart. He was caught brilliantly by Joe Root in mid-off from Jordan's bowling in the third ball of seventieth over.
It was followed by Stokes in the next over to get two wickets in the space of two deliveries. After Ronchi (3 off 3) was caught in the deep by Willey, Anderson (28 off 23) followed him, getting caught in the deep by Jordan to leave New Zealand languishing at 139/6. New Zealand then laboured their way to register 153/8 in the allotted 20 overs.
Brief Scores
New Zealand: 153/7 (Colin Munro 46; Ben Stokes 3/26) vs England