Jos Buttler benefited from two missed chances to power England to 179 in their crunch T20 World Cup clash against New Zealand at the Gabba.
Likely needing a win to remain a semi-final chance, Buttler clubbed 73 off 47 after winning the toss on Tuesday and surprisingly opting to bat first.
An English win will put the visitors in the box seat to progress to the semi-finals as a victory then over Sri Lanka in their final game likely to seal their passage.
But a loss could leave Australia needing only victory against Afghanistan to progress.
A New Zealand victory would seal the undefeated team's spot in the final four.
England were 0-77 after 10 overs, Alex Hales the early mover with 14 off one Tim Southee over.
Buttler was one step away from exiting the arena after Kane Williamson's apparently brilliant effort running back at cover ended with the ball tucked into his chest.
But the English captain, on eight off nine balls at the time, was marching back to the centre square when replays showed the ball had hit the turf as Williamson landed.
He then lapped a 148kmh Lockie Ferguson thunderbolt over fine-leg for six before Hales (52) brought up his half century off 39 balls.
Hales was stumped on the next delivery, but by then Buttler was humming.
The skipper drilled a straight drive to the boundary before somehow flicking his wrists to a short ball to swat it past deep mid-on.
Those strikes came after another stroke of luck though, Daryl Mitchell spilling a fast, flat pull shot on the midwicket boundary when Buttler was on 40.
He passed 50 in 35 balls and kept motoring with back-to-back boundaries to start Trent Boult's third over, taking England to 120 in the 15th over.
Another flat-batted swat for six over mid-off helped Buttler into the 70s while Liam Livingston (20 off 14) also contributed with some lusty blows from the other end.
Harry Brook then entered the fray and whipped Southee for another six but fell aiming to repeat the dose.
Buttler's innings ended in a whimper when Williamson stopped a fierce Ben Stokes drive on the circle and fired his throw back to the bowler's end to find him short.
Lockie Ferguson went for 15 in the final over to slightly undo the good work done to stem the English tide.
