The (not so) long wait
David Willey had taken a wicket in his first over three times in the tournament. He had to wait seven balls this time, but there was almost a wicket in his first over, courtesy of a run-out, when Martin Guptill stole a single from a gentle push down the ground and England's captain Eoin Morgan could not pick up cleanly as he bore down on the stumps from mid-off.

The loosener
Liam Plunkett's first ball - a leg stump half-volley - invited punishment but it almost brought a wicket as Kane Williamson flicked to short fine leg, where Adil Rashid could not quite rescue a half-volley chance as he dived forward.

The stumping chance
Rashid beat Williamson down the leg side on 16 and, even though the umpire called a wide, there was just the glimmer of a stumping chance for Jos Buttler had his take been at its slickest, but Williamson had time to ground his bat in the crease.

The slugger's demise
Colin Munro was the most successful of a succession of potentially destructive New Zealand batsmen, with 46 from 32 balls, but Plunkett out-thought him with a deliberate line wide of off stump and Munro perished via a top edge to third man

The squeeze
New Zealand managed only 20 runs from the last four overs - England's best-ever effort during that segment of a T20 innings - as Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes again put on the squeeze at the death. By the time Stokes ran out Mitchell McClenaghan from the final ball, England imagined themselves slight favourites even against a side capable of defending modest totals.

The fast start
A target of 154 would often encourage slightly conservative beginnings. England do not think like that these days; certainly Jason Roy didn't. An unhampered start brought four boundaries offCorey Anderson as England took pleasure from the absence of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. A strong square drive set it all off, the most emphatic of the quartet..

The stumping chance II
Luke Ronchi had a chance to stump Alex Hales, on 19, as he swung at the medium pace of Grant Elliott but the wicketkeeper failed to hold the ball. With England already halfway to their total in the eighth over, it was a slip they could ill afford. It was not costly, though, with Hales falling in the next over.

The repeat failure
Morgan has had two first ballers in three innings, the first when he allowed a ball from Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi to strike his off stump, the latest when he was lbw propping forward to Ish Sodhi's legbreak. England's T20 reinvention under Morgan's captaincy means it will be shrugged aside - certainly this week.

The statement
Perhaps England will only really be fulfilled if they win the tournament but, after their tortuous World Cup challenge last year, to reach the final was an emphatic statement. Victory was brought up, too, in perfect fashion when Buttler crunched Mitchell Santner over midwicket for his third six in four balls - just the way England might have visualised it.