Near-perfect Pakistan easily defeats New Zealand to advance to the final.

 

After Shaheen Afridi and Co. put pressure on New Zealand, the old company of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam finished the job that night.

Pakistan, which fell to Zimbabwe earlier in the competition and was only able to advance to the semifinals because to Netherlands' improbable victory over South Africa, has sailed into the 2022 Men's T20 World Cup final after playing a nearly flawless game.

In this game, so many fantastic aspects of the Pakistani team came together. By trapping Finn Allen in front with a nasty inswinger third delivery, Shaheen Afridi secured his first over wicket. As they had done consistently throughout the competition, their seamers controlled the back half of the innings, allowing only 53 runs off the final six overs.

After holding New Zealand to 152 for 4, who had trouble finding boundaries, their openers then resumed their brilliant play. After being dropped in the opening over, Babar Azam scored 53 runs off 42 deliveries, slamming spinners and flicking quicks through square leg. When the two added 105 runs for the first wicket, Mohammad Rizwan was even more brilliant, striking 57 off 43.

As Pakistan lost its openers and slowed down a little at the end, there was a tiny stutter. However, Babar and Rizwan had foolproofed the chase. They win the game by 5 balls to spare.

Williamson and Mitchell provide some relief.

Overs 11 to 14 of New Zealand's own innings are perhaps when they can say they were in control. At the midway point, they were 59 for 3, and they needed to get going immediately. Mitchell scored two fours off Shadab Khan's eleventh over of bowling. Williamson smashed the first six of the innings in the thirteenth over, smacking Mohammad Wasim over deep square leg, and Mitchell then blasted Shadab over the sightscreen in the fourteenth. They scored a total of 40 runs in those four overs. After that time, they did not continue to score at that rate.

Pakistan dominant at the death.

At 99 for 3 at the end of the 14th over, New Zealand wasn't exactly in great shape, but considering the strength of their middle order, they might have been able to surpass 160. The quick bowlers for Pakistan varied their pace, delivered brilliantly to their fields, and were supported beautifully in the field this evening, where Pakistan shone. Only three fours could be mustered by New Zealand in the final six overs; they were forced to rely on hard-run twos, with Daryl Mitchell taking the lead on these.

Babar and Rizwan attack the New Zealand seamers.

When the Babar nicked his first ball in the opening over, Trent Boult had a chance to get him. Devon Conway, though, was only able to stick the webbing of his gloves to the opportunity after diving.

The Pakistani openers put the innings into high gear in Boult's following over, where it remained for the length of their stand. Before Rizwan thumped him squarely on the offside and glanced him clear, Babar crashed Boult through point. The two then took 15 off that over. They scored 15 runs off Tim Southee's second over, with Rizwan hitting him twice through midwicket and Babar hitting him through backward square leg.

The spinners provided New Zealand a little control, but the pair negotiated that period smartly, rarely failing to find the boundary off the bad balls. By the end of the 12th, the required rate was just 6.37.

M Haris gives the finishing touch.

After Babar and Rizwan were gone, play slowed down. There was also some unease when Rizwan was dismissed at the end of the 17th over, leaving Pakistan needing 21 runs off of 18 deliveries. However, Mohammad Haris put Pakistan back on the easy path to triumph in the following match. After backing off and hitting a Lockie Ferguson yorker outside of mid-off for four, he sat back and hooked the following ball into the stands. Although he was out before the winning run, he had already secured the victory.

Match summary:

NZ: 152/4 in 20 overs ( Mitchell 53*, Williamson 46, S Afridi 2-24 )

Pak: 153/3 in 19.1 overs ( Rizwan 57, Babar 53, T Boult 2-33 )

Result:

Pakistan won by 7 wickets with 5 balls remaining.