Kevin Pietersen has labelled Tymal Mills 'irreplaceable' and insisted he was a huge miss in England 's T20 World Cup semi-final clash with New Zealand.
Mills suffered a thigh strain in England's win over Sri Lanka and the injury saw him ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.
The left-arm quick has one of the best records at the death in T20 cricket, with his tactic of bowling into the pitch and changing his pace proving potent.
And Pietersen believes Mills' absence in England's defeat to New Zealand 'cost them the World Cup', with Jimmy Neesham and Daryl Mitchell able to score big off Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes at the death to earn their side a spot in the final.
Speaking to Betway, Pietersen said: "I’m pretty confident I’d be previewing a final which England were likely to win if Tymal Mills hadn’t been injured for their semi-final against New Zealand.
"Mills was the only irreplaceable player in England’s squad.
"Jason Roy went down, but Jonny Bairstow could shuffle up the order. They had plenty of spare batsmen, right-arm and left-arm seamers, and even Liam Livingstone’s spin has been a revelation.
"But Mills was an unknown quantity to several opposition in this competition and has skills nobody else does.
"He bowls incredibly fast, he has great changes of pace. He was a fabulous selection.
"England were poor at the death on Wednesday, so it’s fair to say that Mills’ injury has cost them the World Cup."
In the immediate aftermath of the defeat, Pietersen also defended Jordan after he conceded 23 runs from the 17th over, and instead credited Neesham for his quick-fire 27 off 11 balls.
"Jordan is a fabulous cricketer," Pietersen told Sky Sports. "A great guy, we know well he trains, we know how much he's liked - not that you need to be liked to perform - but he's just a brilliant professional who you know was doing his best, but tonight, Neesham got him.
"How can you look back on it now and go he bowled rubbish, he bowled this or he bowled that?
"He may not have bowled well but the pressure exerted on him by Neesham got the job done for New Zealand."
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