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• Rutherford drags West Indies into Super 8s as Black Caps left on brink

  Sherfane Rutherford hit an unbeaten 68 – including a staggering 37 from the final two overs – as West Indies reached the Super-8 stage at the T20 World Cup with a 13-run victory over New Zealand.

  The co-hosts looked to be on course for their first defeat of the tournament when they slipped to 22-4, Trent Boult finishing with a team-best 3-16 for the Black Caps.

  Rutherford had little support and initially made slow progress, only to dial it up in the dying stages, smashing three maximums off Daryl Mitchell in the 19th over then hitting two fours and another six off Mitchell Santner in the 20th.

  New Zealand's chase never really got going as their middle order collapsed, Windies paceman Alzarri Joseph finishing with figures of 4-19 and Gudakesh Motie going 3-25.

  Joseph's delivery saw Glenn Phillips caught by Rovman Powell at long on for the innings' crucial wicket, the all-rounder hitting 40 off 33 balls as none of his team-mates managed above 26.

  While West Indies retain a perfect record at the top of Group C, New Zealand are on the brink of an early exit. They must win their remaining matches against Uganda and Papua New Guinea and hope other results go their way to advance.

  Data Debrief: Rutherford's rescue act

  When West Indies found themselves teetering in Trinidad and Tobago, Rutherford bailed them out.

  His 68 runs at number six represents the second-best score ever recorded by a batter coming in at six or lower at the T20 World Cup, after Cameron White managed 85 versus Sri Lanka in 2010.

• Root backs Buttler as England captain despite T20 World Cup struggles

  Joe Root has no doubts over Jos Buttler's England captaincy, backing the white-ball skipper to continue despite T20 World Cup struggles.

  Matthew Mott's side are on the brink of an early elimination this month, with their 20-over title defence seemingly crumbling without escaping the group stage.

  England struggled before rain washed out their opener with Scotland, who are the favourites to progress after Australia overcame Buttler's side on Saturday.

  The defending champions must beat Oman and Namibia, while needing Australia to overcome Scotland by a less-than-narrow margin to have any hopes of going through on net run-rate.

  That has brought questions over Buttler's tenure as England captain, though Root placed his backing in the 33-year-old, a former international team-mate and good friend of his.

  "Jos is one of my good friends," the England Test star said. "I think he's a brilliant captain, so I don't think there's any question.

  "I think they'll be absolutely fine, they've got a wonderful squad of players. They know exactly what they need to do.

  "When it's all laid out and they've got their backs to the wall, which they have in this situation now, is when they play their best cricket.

  "It could really bring the best out of them, so I've got no worries whatsoever.

  "If they go out and do what they all know that they're capable of doing, we'll be finding ourselves in the Super 8s and the back-end of the tournament where it really matters to play our best stuff."

  England face Oman on Thursday before meeting Namibia on Saturday, when Scotland go against Australia later in the day, boasting the advantage of knowing what result is required to progress.

  That is on the minds of Australian players, too, with bowler Josh Hazlewood weighing up the options of helping send England out of the competition.

  England coach Mott hopes the Australia quick's comments were in jest, though matters could be out of his side's hands come the weekend in the United States and West Indies.

• Rohit relieved after India battle past USA to reach Super 8s at T20 World Cup

  Rohit Sharma was left with an overwhelming sense of relief after India staved off a spirited United States to reach the Super 8s at the T20 World Cup.

  Rahul Dravid's white-ball side progressed through the group stages with a game to spare after Wednesday's seven-wicket victory over the co-hosts in New York.

  Having already overcome struggling Ireland and fierce rivals Pakistan, a third straight win in Group A was enough to send India through as Rohit's team prepare for the latter stages of the tournament.

  Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten half-century proved the difference against the USA, helping his country chase down a 111-run target with 10 balls remaining.

  It could have been a different story, however, as India lost Rohit (three) and Virat Kohli to a golden duck in the start to their chase.

  That stark warning left a lasting imprint on Rohit's memory as the India captain credited the battling USA showing.

  "We knew it was going to be a tough task, scoring that many," Rohit said at his post-match interview. "Credit to us for chasing it down.

  "SKY and [Shivam] Dube did well in the end. We knew our bowlers had to take the lead as scoring is tough on this pitch.

  "Arshdeep [Singh] started off magnificently. We want options with us. As and when we feel like we could use them, we should be and that's what Dube allowed.

  "Being in the Super 8s is a big relief. Playing here wasn't easy, it could've been anyone's game."

  USA still have a chance of progressing to the next round after back-to-back victories over Canada and Pakistan.

  "The boys were disciplined today, pleased that the game got close," USA captain Aaron Jones said. "We've wanted fans, talked about it for a couple of years.

  "We'll come hard against Ireland for sure."