COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — New Zealand failed to clinch a Twenty20 World Cup semifinals place when it lost to England by four wickets on Friday, leaving Pakistan a last chance to qualify.
New Zealand looked set to join England in the semifinals when it reduced England to 117-6 in the 17th over in pursuit of 160. But big hits by Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed got England over the finish line with three balls remaining in a thriller.
Click to Gallery
New Zealand's Finn Allen plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Liam Dawson bowls a delivery during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
New Zealand's Tim Seifert plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Rehan Ahmed hits a six during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Will Jacks plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
“Would have made our lives easier if we won,” New Zealand captain Mitch Santner said. “We played a pretty good game. Credit to England. Jacks and Rehan with the finishing touches, it was a good bit of batting.”
The odds still favor New Zealand going through from the Super Eights but Pakistan has a last-ditch chance on Saturday against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
Pakistan has to beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs or chase down the tournament co-host in 13.1 overs.
England had already qualified but completed the Super Eights three-for-three unbeaten.
That record was in jeopardy for much of the chase.
Phil Salt was out in the first over and fellow opener Jos Buttler for a two-ball duck in the second over. Buttler has only 62 runs in seven matches and his 10th career duck set the all-time record for England in T20s.
“He's played 150 games for England,” captain Harry Brook said of Buttler, “and people need to take a little step back. He's probably the best white-ball player to play the game. He's in a rut but it's exciting to know what he could produce in the next few games.”
Brook and Jacob Bethel were gone inside nine overs then Tom Banton and Sam Curran struggled to share 42 runs in 35 balls. England was left needing 43 runs off 19 deliveries with four wickets on a used pitch that was turning.
Ahmed replaced Jamie Overton because of the pitch and took 2-28, and he made his bat also count.
He sent the second ball he faced over the long-on fence as he and Jacks turned the game with 22 runs in the 18th over bowled by Glenn Phillips. They plundered 16 runs from the 19th bowled by Santner and cruised home.
Jacks was unbeaten on 32 including a six and four boundaries. Ahmed faced seven deliveries for 19 which included two sixes and a boundary.
“Having gone out on a knife edge I'm over the moon," Jacks said after his fourth player of the match award in the tournament. “Rehan played a brilliant innings. Everyone struggled to get going on that pitch and the six he hit second ball got them rattled and I fed off him.
“Feel confident right now, calm in the middle. That can be vital. We're going in the right direction, three wins in the Super Eight, we're very happy.”
Santner chose to bat first, as both teams wanted, and his team made 159-7.
Tim Seifert and Finn Allen opened with 64 in seven overs but they lost wickets frequently from then on. Phillips top-scored with 39. New Zealand scored only 24 runs in the last three overs.
Spinners Jacks, Adil Rashid and Ahmed took two wickets each.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
New Zealand's Finn Allen plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Liam Dawson bowls a delivery during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
New Zealand's Tim Seifert plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Rehan Ahmed hits a six during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Will Jacks plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are sinking Friday as Wall Street gets back to hunting companies that could become losers because of the artificial-intelligence revolution. A surprisingly discouraging update on inflation is also hurting the market, while oil prices climb with worries about tensions between the United States and Iran.
The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and is staggering toward the finish of what would be just its second losing month in the last 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 630 points, or 1.3%, as of 1:58 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.
The losses came as investors returned to knocking down software companies and others whose businesses they suspect could get supplanted by AI-powered competitors.
Block, the company behind Cash App, Square and other businesses, gave a potential signal of what AI could do after CEO Jack Dorsey said he was cutting its workforce by nearly half. That’s even though he said 2025 was a strong year for the company, which is sending more cash to shareholders through stock buybacks.
“Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,” Dorsey said in a letter to investors while announcing Block’s latest profit results. “We’re already seeing it internally. A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better.”
The co-founder of Twitter also said, “I don’t think we’re early to this realization. I think most companies are late. Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes.”
Block is cutting more than 4,000 jobs from its workforce of over 10,000. Its stock jumped 14.1%.
Capable AI tools that can replace humans could also replace entire companies, or at least eat away at their profit margins. Fears about AI disruption have been causing sudden and swift sell-offs for stocks seen as potentially under threat, rolling through industries as different as trucking logistics and legal services.
Salesforce, whose platform helps customers manage their relationships with clients, fell 2.2%. It gave back more than half of its 4% gain from the day before after reporting a better profit than analysts expected.
A widely followed ETF tracking the software industry, meanwhile, sank 1.8% to bring its loss for the year so far to 23.3%.
The pain has also filtered out to private-equity companies that have lent money to software companies, which need to withstand the AI threat to keep repaying their debt. Blue Apollo Global Management dropped 8.5%, and Ares Management sank 6.2% for two of the biggest losses in the S&P 500.
Even the companies currently seeing their revenue and profit soar because of AI-related demand are weakening. Nvidia fell 3.5% and was the heaviest weight on the U.S. stock market, a day after dropping to its worst loss since last spring. That's even though it reported a better profit than analysts expected and forecast more in revenue for the current quarter.
Rival chip companies also fell. Worries are hurting such companies not only about whether their stock prices rose too high in recent years but also whether the huge spending driving their growth can continue. Can big spenders like Amazon and Alphabet make back all their billions of dollars in AI investments through higher productivity and profits in the future?
On the winning side of Wall Street was Netflix, which climbed 12.5% after walking away from its bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business. That put Skydance-owned Paramount in a position to take over its Hollywood rival.
Paramount Skydance shares jumped 22.9%, while Warner Bros. Discovery fell 1.9%.
Some of the strongest action in financial markets was for oil, where the price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 2.5% to $66.82. It's the latest swing in a market unsettled by tensions between the United States and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. military has already gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the Middle East, and a conflict could disrupt the global flow of oil and drive prices higher.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.6% to $72.68 per barrel.
Also hurting the broad market was a report showing that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was at 2.9% last month, much higher than the 1.6% that economists expected.
The number was so much worse than expected that it could help persuade the Federal Reserve to hold off longer on its cuts to interest rates. Lower rates would give the economy and prices for investments a boost, but they risk worsening inflation at the same time.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 3.96%. It briefly swiveled higher following the inflation report, but it’s down from its 4.02% level late Thursday. Treasury yields often fall when nervousness is high and investors are moving into investments that are considered safer.
ln stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1% from its latest record, and the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 rose 0.6% in two of the world’s larger moves.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Trader John Romolo works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Thomas McArdle works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Timothy Nick, left, and Robert Charmak work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person stands as a vehicle passes by in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A currency trader watches a monitor near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
