T20 World Cup: England are contenders again after impressive victory over New Zealand
That was much, much better.
The manner of England’s victory over New Zealand on Tuesday should reassert Jos Buttler’s side as one of the favourites for the Men’s T20 World Cup again.
Last week’s five-run defeat to Ireland was obviously disappointing.
Yes, if the rain had not come and Moeen Ali had been able to bat just a few more balls they would have won.
But it was a poor performance and England deserved to lose.
In contrast, when the pressure was really on, and when other England white-ball teams have buckled – before the 2019 World Cup-winning team at least – they did pretty much everything right.
Moeen dropped a simple catch to dismiss Glenn Phillips but otherwise England were ruthless against a team many people had as favourites after their 89-run demolition of Australia.
They were ruthless at the toss, having seen the turn offered by the surface in the game between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan earlier in the day and opting to bat first – despite their preference to chase.
They were ruthless with the bat, capitalising on New Zealand’s two drops of Buttler. And when the game got tight with the ball, they closed it out expertly.
But what really impressed me was the flexibility England showed, both with bat and ball.
England have been criticised for being too rigid in the past. Here they mixed up the batting order – promoting Moeen to attack the spin and then Liam Livingstone to try and accelerate the scoring.
It may not have come off but it was absolutely the correct decision.
Buttler also opened the bowling with Moeen’s off-spin and brought on leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the powerplay, something we rarely see him do, which showed a captain and team switched on to the game.
People may still debate Ben Stokes’ position in the team after his eight from seven balls down the order but I just cannot imagine an England white-ball team without the all-rounder.
He is the talisman, such a huge figure on the field and in the dressing room, and England still need his wise head and experience.
We should not forget it was Stokes who turned the momentum, as he does so often, by dismissing New Zealand captain Kane Williamson to break what had looked like a match-winning partnership with Phillips.
In a funny sort of way, the long break from last Wednesday’s Ireland defeat, following the washout on Friday against Australia, will have done England some good.
It allowed them the break to get away from Melbourne and regroup.
Chris Woakes came into this game under a bit of pressure after his wayward display against Ireland but he did a good job, taking 2-33 from four overs.
It will help him to get rid of the baggage of his previous spell.
The aggressive way Alex Hales batted in his 52 from 40 balls was another positive, as well as the obvious boost England will get from their captain Buttler playing so brilliantly for his 47-ball 73.
This was his 100th T20 international and in his knock he overtook former skipper Eoin Morgan to become England’s highest run-scorer in the format.
He is undoubtedly England’s greatest T20 player – once again showing he has every shot in the book.
The hit off Trent Boult in the 17th over – a back-of-a-length slower ball smacked back over the bowler’s head with a horizontal bat – was a display of brutal, raw power.
Buttler is a very special player and if he carries on in this form it will clearly improve England’s chances.
They have to be favourites to progress going into the final round of games, given Australia are still well behind on net run-rate.
We watched Sri Lanka, England’s opponents on Saturday, beat Afghanistan earlier in the day and while they did what they had to do to win, Buttler’s side should have all of the momentum going to Sydney.
Sri Lanka have not had a very good tournament – their fielding has been wretched at times – and they have lost a number of bowlers to injury.
The pitch can be low and slow in Sydney and we saw in Sri Lanka’s shock Asia Cup win they have an attack that can play well in those conditions, but it will also benefit England that they have played on such a surface here in Brisbane.
Australia, meanwhile, play Afghanistan on Friday – a game you would expect them to win emphatically.
All of these predictions come with a health warning, and we will have to keep calculators close by, but the form England showed against New Zealand, added to the fact they will know exactly what is required, means I believe they will have enough to go through.
They will certainly be feeling a lot more confident when they leave Brisbane on Wednesday than when they arrived.
Their supporters should too.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport’s Matthew Henry.
