(Reuters) - New Zealand have shown they are the strongest team across all formats of the game after reaching the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, former England captain Michael Atherton said.
Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten 72 and Jimmy Neesham's blistering cameo in Abu Dhabi led New Zealand to a dramatic five-wicket win over England as they entered their first T20 World Cup final on Wednesday.
The 'Black Caps' reached the final of the 50-overs World Cup in 2019 and beat India this year to win the inaugural World Test Championship title.
"They are an outstanding team, in all formats of the game really," Atherton told Sky Sports.
"Across formats, you would have to say they are the strongest team at the moment so congratulations to them, a fantastic achievement with limited resources in terms of personnel and money and things that we've often talked about."
New Zealand will face either Australia or Pakistan in Sunday's final in Dubai.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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