England's nine-wicket victory over New Zealand at the Kennington Oval in London was made possible by Danni Wyatt-Hodge's 53-ball 89, which included 15 fours and a six. Wyatt-Hodge continued her scintillating form at the Women's T20 World Cup in 2026. The defending champions were eliminated from the tournament as a result. New Zealand's title defense got off to a terrible start when they lost to Sri Lanka and the West Indies. They had a chance to still sneak into the semifinals at their final league game against England, despite the steep climb since. That was Ireland's kindness because they had defeated West Indies earlier in the day. New Zealand knew going into Saturday's game that winning would have allowed them to overtake West Indies for the second semifinal spot in the group. They met the form team, who, sadly for them, made no room for such possibilities. Amelia Kerr and Isabella Gaze, the New Zealand openers, took their team to 44/0 in the Powerplay and extended the opening stand by playing with the responsibility of everything being on the line. England, on the other hand, scored multiple times just before the half. New Zealand fell to 70/3 after Freya Kemp had Gaze caught and Danielle Gibson took out Amelia and Izzy Sharp in the same over. With a quick partnership for the fourth wicket, Brooke Halliday and Sophie Devine brought the innings back to life, adding 54 runs in 29 deliveries. They entered the final overs at 122/3 and were able to add 41 runs thanks to contributions from Maddy Green (17* off 13) and Suzie Bates (19 off 13). England were buoyed in the first half of the game with several economical bowlers - Linsey Smith went for 26 in 4 overs, Bell for 24 with a wicket and Sophie Ecclestone too for 24. England's disciplined bowling performance was followed by a batting display that blew New Zealand out of the water. By the time Nensi Patel broke through with the wicket of Amy Jones, England already had 36 runs in four overs. Wyatt-Hodge then took over in the company of Sophia Dunkley, who finished undefeated on 49 off 38. Together, they hit 24 fours and one six off Wyatt-Hodge, putting together 128 runs off 80 deliveries to win. In the sixth over, their flying alliance began by removing three boundaries from Devine. A brief spell of rain followed the Powerplay. England were well ahead of the par score even at that point. Play resumed after a 17-minute break and no adjustments were needed to the target. The boundaries continued to flow even after this halt, Wyatt-Hodge not giving up any momentum as she laid into Amelia in the ninth over to slam three fours. She scored her 33-ball half century off Patel in the subsequent over. In the subsequent three overs, the pair raced away from the chase and each scored at least one four. With yet another four off Amelia in the 15th over, Dunkley brought up the 100-run partnership. The England innings' first and only six runs came in the 17th over when Wyatt-Hodge hit a Jess Kerr delivery over midwicket. Lea Tahuhu's chase ended with a wide in the 18th over.