Eliminated New Zealand sweep aside Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea 78 (Ferguson 3-0, Southee 2-11, Boult 2-14)
New Zealand 79/3 (Conway 35)
New Zealand won by seven wickets

Pace bowler Ferguson became the first man to bowl four maidens in a T20 World Cup match and only the second bowler to do so in all men's T20 internationals.

In claiming three wickets, he helped the Black Caps dismiss Papua New Guinea for 78 on a difficult, uneven surface.

New Zealand lost Finn Allen to the second ball of their reply, but Devon Conway's 35 put them on the way to a seven-wicket win with almost eight overs to spare.

They finish third in Group C, behind Afghanistan and co-hosts West Indies, who have already qualified for the Super 8s before their meeting in the final game of the opening round (01:30 BST on Thursday).

With both New Zealand and Papua New Guinea eliminated, there was little to whet the appetite for this contest, especially when it was delayed for an hour by rain.

But Ferguson made it memorable, his speed in excess of 90mph too fiery for the inexperienced PNG batting line-up.

He had captain Assad Vala slash to Daryl Mitchell at wide slip from his first delivery, pinned Charles Amini lbw on review and bowled Chad Soper.

PNG did take two runs from the third ball of Ferguson's final over, but they were leg byes off the pad of Kiplin Doriga.

Ferguson ended with figures of 4-4-0-3, matching the four maidens bowled by Canada's Saad Bin Zafar against Panama in 2021.

Left-armer Trent Boult, in possibly his last game for New Zealand, weighed in with 2-14.

Possibly because of the unpredictable pitch, New Zealand were watchful in the chase. Allen was undone by some low bounce, under-edging behind, and Rachin Ravindra holed out on the leg side, both off the left-arm medium of Kabua Morea.

Conway lofted three sixes before he too was undone by the lack of bounce, lbw to Semo Kamea, leaving Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell to complete the formalities.