New Zealand, England eye own T20 fairytale

New Zealand have set their sights on their own Twenty20 World Cup fairytale as they try to join England in denying tournament officials a dream MCG final between India and Pakistan.

The Netherlands' shock defeat of South Africa on Sunday has opened the door for the prospect of the biggest World Cup final in history, with India and Pakistan in separate semi-finals.

The rivals have not met in a final since the first T20 tournament in 2007, but regularly sell out matches when they clash at World Cups with no bilateral series between the two cricket-mad nations.

If Pakistan were to beat the Black Caps on Wednesday and India defeat England in their semi-final on Thursday, it's likely Sunday's final would be the most-watched cricket match in history.

The early clash between the two sub-continent giants at the MCG attracted 90,293 fans and was widely considered the best T20 match played in Australia due to the atmosphere and its tight nature.

But New Zealand are ready to have their own say on spoiling the promoter's dream.

They have appeared in the past two one-day World Cup finals and last year's T20 decider, making for 11 visits in total to the last four.

But for all that, they are still without a major white-ball trophy.

The Black Caps also arguably enter this match against Pakistan in the best position of any finals appearance, in-form after topping their group.

"There's a different nature across all the tournaments," New Zealand quick Tim Southee said.

"The one-day World Cup is slightly longer, this one is reasonably quick and if you can get on a roll you find yourself sitting here at this stage."

England also have a point to prove against India in Adelaide, after ending the local fairytale story by denying Australia a semi-finals spot.

After revolutionising white-ball cricket and dominating since 2015 with their all-out attack approach, they have just one major trophy to show for it with the 2019 one-day World Cup.

Outside of that that they were shocked in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year, and beaten by the West Indies in the 2016 decider.

They have been far less convincing in this tournament, and now face a difficult semi-final against India with Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav firing.

"They are a powerhouse of a team so it will be a great game," England quick Mark Wood said. 

"If you want to win the World Cup you have to beat the best teams.

"The positive is it hasn't been a typical blast-everyone-out-of-the-park (situation) with the bat. 

"We've had to work hard with the ball and grind it out with the bat.

"That's not usually like us so it's great we can win in other ways."