After having lost their first two matches of the 20-20 World Cup 2022 against India and Zimbabwe, who would have thought that Pakistan would go on to reach the final. Cricket is a funny game, indeed. The Men in Green outclassed New Zealand in the semi-final clash in Sydney on Wednesday to seal their spot for the summit clash, scheduled to be played on 13th November 2022.
New Zealand showed intent at the start of the innings as Finn Allen smacked Shaheen Afridi for a four on the very first ball. However, the Pakistan seamer came back strongly as he had Allen leg-before one ball later. Conway, on the other hand, also got run out shortly thereafter to leave the team in a spot of bother at 38 for 2 in the first six overs of the innings.
Glenn Phillips also had a forgettable outing with the bat as he chipped one straight back to Nawaz. At the end of the halfway stage, New Zealand were reeling at 59 for 3. Kane Williamson then joined hands with Mitchell to lead the team’s recovery.
The duo added 68 runs for the fourth wicket and looked to lift the team to a big score. However, Shaheen Afridi, once again, came to the team’s rescue as he outfoxed Williamson (46 off 42) with a slower delivery in the 17th over of the innings. Mitchell, however, played till the end and guided the team to a competitive score of 152 runs at the end of the first innings.
On the big night, Mitchell played yet another fine knock of 53 runs in just 35 balls but lacked a similar kind of knock from the other end. The Blackcaps needed to start well with the ball to put Pakistan under pressure.
However, Babar Azam and M Rizwan came out all guns blazing. The latter hit the very first ball of the innings to the boundary ropes to set the intentions clear straight away. Babar Azam was dropped by Conway on the very first ball of his innings. But, after that, he didn’t give any opportunity to New Zealand to come back into the game.
Babar and Rizwan put on a match-winning 105-run partnership for the opening wicket to laid a strong foundation. The duo mixed aggression with caution and took the team to the finals. Both scored respective half-centuries, while M Harris, yet again, played a crucial cameo of 30 runs in 26 balls to guide the team to an 8-wicket win over the Blackcaps.
Twitter was abuzz with Pakistan’s famous victory. Here’s a look at some of the notable reactions:
Congratulations team Pakistan 🇵🇰 & fans around the world winning semi final of #ICCT20WorldCup2022 #PakvsNz @iMRizwanPak 😍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 @babarazam258 😍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 great team work 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼. Well done 👍🏼😍
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) November 9, 2022
Babar and Rizwan have delivered the Day it Mattered #PakvsNZ
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) November 9, 2022
Mubarak #Pakistan Mubarak! No one could do it but you , always support the boys . What a performance ❤️
— Farhan Saeed (@farhan_saeed) November 9, 2022
Finals here we come !
Pakistan Zindabad! #PakvsNz #Semifinals
Babar Azam magic about to come back as a bit of luck has gone his way! #PakvsNz #T20WorldCup
— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) November 9, 2022
World Cup semi-final, slightly cagey situation, and Haris refuses to give an inch. Fantastic T20 batting, fantastic T20 prospect. #PakvsNZ
— Danyal Rasool (@Danny61000) November 9, 2022
It was a pleasure to see Pakistan play in today's match, they played like warriors. Outstanding performance by all the bowlers and excellent work by New Zealand for putting up an equal fight! Well played @dazmitchell47, what a top-class innings! #PAKvsNZ #T20WorldCup2022
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) November 9, 2022
Pakistan into the World cup final let's GOOOO 😭😭❤️❤️❤️ #PakvsNz pic.twitter.com/i7BZC54d5i
— Assad Bajwa (@oyebajwey) November 9, 2022
When 99% were posting negativity , I tweeted this :) #PakvsNz , I had full faith in my team and @babarazam258 :) https://t.co/Yu5eADeZXr
— Waqar Zaka (@ZakaWaqar) November 9, 2022
Being fan of Pakistan Cricket is not fun.
— Suleman Raza MBE (@iamsulemanraza) November 9, 2022
You can't be certain till last ball.
And we don't have habit of winning without causing fluctuation to blood pressure. How can you win it so easily
A totally dull match 😁#PakvsNz
pakistan cricket team explained in 10 seconds #PakvsNz pic.twitter.com/JP2UQ7kNZw
— 𝗭𝗭 (@ZaminZahoor) November 9, 2022
Newzealand is the Biggest FRAUD Team in world cricket, even bigger than South Africa 👍#PakvsNz
— Amit Kumar (@AMIT_GUJJU) November 9, 2022
When It Comes To Beating New-ZeaLand in Knockout Matches#PakvsNz pic.twitter.com/pyT9aaoc5h
— Pulkit🇮🇳 (@pulkit5Dx) November 9, 2022
Mubarak #Pakistan Mubarak! No one could do it but you , always support the boys . What a performance ❤️
— Farhan Saeed (@farhan_saeed) November 9, 2022
Finals here we come !
Pakistan Zindabad! #PakvsNz #Semifinals