By a Staff Reporter
Pakistan sidelined New Zealand by 7 wickets to march on to the finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time in 13 years.
New Zealand won the toss at Sydney Cricket Ground and elected to bat first. It cost them 4 wickets to collect 152 runs in the prescribed 20 overs. Daryl Mitchell’s only half-century inning was not enough for New Zealand to head toward the final.
Opener batsman got LBW out by Shaheen Shah Afridi for 4 runs. Devon Conway contributed 21 runs before getting run out by the hands of Shadab Khan. Shaheen then bowled New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson when he was at 46 runs off 42 deliveries with a four and a sixer.
Mohammad Nawaz caught Glenn Phillips for 6 runs. Mitchel and James Neesham lasted till the end for 53 and 16 runs respectively.
In reply, Pakistan chased the winning target of 153 runs in 19.1 overs. A half-century inning each from Pakistan’s opener batsmen duo Mohammad Rizwan (57) and Babar Azam (53) snatched the match from New Zealand’s hand. Trent Boult took the wickets of both Pakistan’s opener in 12.4 and 16.6 overs.
Mohammad Haris collected 30 runs before getting caught by Fin Allen off Mitchell Santner’s delivery in 18.6 overs. Shan Masoon scored 3 runs to put ice on the cake.
Pakistan will now either face its favorite rival India or England in the finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. The winners of Semi-Final 2 to be held on November 10 will decide the second finalist.
