England v New Zealand predictions and Twenty20 cricket betting tips

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for England v New Zealand in Wednesday's T20 World Cup semi-final in Abu Dhabi.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 2pm Wednesday

Best bets

Moeen Ali over 31.5 performance points
3pts 5-6 bet365

Daryl Mitchell top New Zealand runscorer
1pt 5-1 Betfred

Match preview

England are 4-7 to progress to the final of the T20 World Cup with a victory over New Zealand in Abu Dhabi but Eoin Morgan's side know that the Black Caps can never be taken lightly.

Morgan's men scraped past Kane Williamson's Kiwis to win an extraordinary 2019 World Cup final at Lord's after a tied Super Over and the teams' most recent Twenty20 meeting also ended in a tie.

England again prevailed in a Super Over in that contest in Auckland in November 2019 but their hopes of becoming 20-over as well as 50-over world champions have been dented by some significant injuries.

World Cup heroes Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were ruled out of the T20 jamboree while left-arm paceman Tymal Mills suffered a thigh injury against Sri Lanka after excelling in wins over West Indies, Bangladesh and Australia.

Opener Jason Roy, a key part of England's intimidating batting unit, is also out of the World Cup due to a calf strain picked up in Saturday's ten-run defeat to South Africa.

England have some classy understudies in James Vince, who scored 95 off 60 balls for Sydney Sixers in January's Big Bash final, and Sam Billings, a terrific T20 middle-order innovator.

However, reshuffling a settled batting line-up is not ideal against New Zealand, who bounced back well from an opening defeat to Pakistan.

They thumped India by eight wickets in their second game, restricting the ante-post favourites to just 110-7, before easing past Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan.

New Zealand have never got beyond the semis at a T20 World Cup and they will probably need early wickets if they are to buck that trend.

Jos Buttler blasted 73 off 51 balls in England's warm-up win over the Black Caps before racking up 240 runs off 154 balls in five group games.

The opener was dismissed only twice in those five innings but he faces a tough test against Trent Boult, the tournament's leading fast bowler with 11 wickets.

Moeen Ali, who was promoted to number three when Roy retired hurt against South Africa, also has a big role to play. He top-scored with 37 off 27 balls against the Proteas and his head-to-head with New Zealand spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner is a key battleground.

Moeen helped Chennai win last month's IPL final in Dubai, smashing an unbeaten 37 from just 20 deliveries, and he has taken 2-17, 2-18, 2-15 and 1-27 in the four World Cup games in which he bowled.

His performance make-ups have been 53, 40, nought (when he didn't bat or bowl against Australia), 51 and 57 so he can clear a line of 31.5.

England have picked up plenty of wickets in the first six overs but New Zealand's openers have put on 36, 24, 35, 30 and 26 in their five games and Daryl Mitchell looks a big price to be their top runscorer.

The all-rounder has got starts in all five matches since being promoted to open the batting, top-scoring against India with an excellent 49 and making 27, the joint-highest score of the innings, against a dangerous Pakistan bowling unit.

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