42 not out, hitting five 4s having faced 41 balls. This stand turned out to be the best eighth wicket partnership in the whole of the competition. In New Zealand's reply, Nixon caught Lou Vincent off the bowling of James Anderson as the opener was dismissed for 0. Despite being 2–2 at one stage, the Kiwi's eventually won by 6 wickets, with Scott Styris and Jacob Oram both hitting unbeaten half centuries. On 18 March, England took on Canada and Nixon hit 23 off 8 balls, a knock which included four 4s and a 6 – a strike rate of just under 288. This helped his side accumulate 279. In their innings, Canada were chasing England's total well, when Nixon stumped Asif Mulla who was on 58, off the bowling of Ravi Bopara. A certain amount of momentum was lost as a result, as the Canadians succumbed to a 51 run defeat. Six days later, England beat Kenya by 7 wickets, although Nixon was not required to bat. Super Eight stage In England's first Super Eight match against Ireland, Nixon contributed a 19 off 15 deliveries, hitting a 4 and a 6 along the way, helping the team's total to 266. Much like Canada in the Group Stage, Ireland were steadily chipping away at England's total, when Nixon again disrupted momentum with a stumping – this time dismissing Niall O'Brien off Michael Vaughan's bowling, for 63. Ultimately, England won by 48 runs. On 4 April, England were up against Sri Lanka, and at 133–6, chasing 236 to win. Nixon came to the crease and scored 42 off 44 deliveries, with two 4s and a 6, sharing an 87 run partnership with Ravi Bopara off 15.2 overs, before skying a Lasith Malinga delivery to Mahela Jayawardene. This turned out to be the best seventh wicket partnership of the whole competition. His 6 came in the form of a reverse sweep off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan. Nixon remarked after the match, "I've probably hit 20 sixes like that in county cricket – if I get my timing right, it's going to go out of the ground". Bopara was left with the task of hitting 3 runs off the last delivery, but was clean bowled by Dilhara Fernando, as Sri Lanka got a 2 run victory. After this innings, Nixon had a World Cup average of 63 – second highest in the