England batsman Joe Root created history on Wednesday during his side's match against New Zealand as he became the first English player to amass 500 runs in a single edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Root needed 24 runs to touch the milestone when he came out to bat against the Kiwis. Root scored 24 runs and achieved the feat but soon after that, he was sent back to the pavilion by Trent Boult.

Root is now the fifth highest run-getter of the premier tournament. The list is topped by India batsman Rohit Sharma, who has 544 runs under his belt.

Sharma is followed by Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (542), Australia batsman David Warner (516) and Aaron Finch (504).

England are currently on the fourth position on the points table and need to win the match to confirm their semi-final spot.

England entered the World Cup semifinals for the first time since the 1992 edition, beating an erring New Zealand by 119 runs to fuel their "dream" of winning a maiden title.

Jonny Bairstow, who smashed 106 off 99 balls to become the first Englishman to score back-to-back hundreds in a World Cup, was mainly responsible for taking the hosts to 305 for eight on a pitch that got slower as the game progressed.

New Zealand did well to limit England to a little over 300, considering the start provided by Bairstow and Jason Roy (60 off 61) who shared an entertaining 123-run stand after Eoin Morgan opted to bat.

New Zealand, who lost their last three leagues games to end with 11 points from nine games, remain in the hunt to clinch the fourth and final semifinal spot.

They have a much better net run rate than Pakistan who have nine points and must beat Bangladesh by a big margin in their final league match to have any hopes of pipping New Zealand for the remaining semifinal berth.