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Greetings to all, hope you all are well and good and enjoying happy moments of life. I am also good at Alhamdulillah. Here Today I am going to share with you a report of the match between Pakistan and New Zealand. Pakistan wins the match after a great struggle.

Report

fect Pakistan make light work of New Zealand to storm into final

The old firm of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam did the job on the night, after Shaheen Afridi and Co had applied the squeeze on New Zealand

Andrew Fidel Fernando

1 hr ago

Mumtaz: Mohammad Haris a free spirit who has been backed by the team

Pakistan 153 for 3 (Rizwan 57, Babar 53, Boult 2-33) beat New Zealand 152 for 4 (Mitchell 53*, Williamson 46, Afridi 2-24) by seven wickets

Pakistan, who lost to Zimbabwe earlier in the tournament, who limped into the semis thanks only to Netherland's unlikely win over South Africa, have stormed into the final of the 2022 Men's T20 World Cup, having executed a near-perfect game.

So much that is great about this Pakistan team fell into place in this game. Shaheen Afridi got his first-over wicket, trapping Finn Allen in front with a vicious inswinger third ball. Their seamers locked down the back end of the innings, conceding just 53 runs off the last six overs (this is something they've done well right through the tournament).

Then, having restricted New Zealand - who struggled to find boundaries - to 152 for 4, their openers returned to dazzling form. Having been dropped in the first over, Babar Azam struck 53 off 42 balls, whipping quicks through square leg, thumping spinners down the ground. Mohammad Rizwan was even more impressive, hitting 57 off 43 as the pair put on 105 for the first wicket.

There was a slight stutter towards the end, as Pakistan lost their openers, and slowed down a touch. But Babar and Rizwan had foolproofed the chase. They got there with five balls to spare.

Pakistan dominate the death
At 99 for 3 at the end of the 14th over, New Zealand' weren't exactly flying, but given the firepower in their middle order, they could have had a score in excess of 160 in their sights. Pakistan's quicks mixed up their pace, bowled expertly to their fields, and were backed up beautifully in the field, where Pakistan excelled this evening. New Zealand could muster only three fours in the last six overs, relying instead on hard-run twos, Daryl Mitchell taking the lead on those.

Rizwan and Babar take New Zealand's quicks down Trent Boult could have had Babar in the first over, when the batter nicked his first ball. But a diving Devon Conway could only get the webbing of his gloves to the chance, and couldn't make it stick.

In Boult's next over, Pakistan's openers kicked the innings up into the high gear at which it would stay for the duration of their stand. Babar crashed Boult through point, before Rizwan glanced him fine, then thumped him square on the offside as well, the pair taking 15 off that over. Off Tim Southee's second over, they took 15 again, Rizwan slamming him twice through midwicket, before Babar cracked 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.

Williamson and Mitchell provide a sliver of hope
If there was one period New Zealand can claim to have been on top, it was likely overs 11 to 14 of their own innings. They'd been 59 for 3 at the halfway stage, desperately needing to get a move on. Mitchell hit two fours off the 11th over, bowled by Shadab Khan. In the 13th over, Williamson hit the innings' first six, smoking Mohammad Wasim over deep square leg, before Mitchell launched Shadab into the sightscreen in the 14th. All up, they scored 40 runs in those four overs. They did not match that rate of scoring after that period.

Haris eases Pakistani nerves
There was a slowdown after Babar and Rizwan were parted, and a slight unease when Rizwan was out at the end of the 17th over, leaving Pakistan with 21 to get off 18 balls. Mohammad Haris put Pakistan back on the smooth road to victory next over, however. He backed away and drilled a Lockie Ferguson yorker wide of mid-off for four, before sitting back to hook him into the stands next ball. He was out before the winning run came, but he'd made the game safe.

Commentary

Williamson: I thought Pakistan played nicely and then we managed to wrestle back some momentum. At the halfway mark we thought we had a competitive total but disappointing not to make Pakistan work harder [in the chase]. It's a tough pill to swallow. Fielding was okay...but I think if we want to be honest, we wanted to be more disciplined with our areas. Like I said, Pakistan deserved to win. Throughout the round-robin stages, we played nicely and today we weren't at our best. Having said that, we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket.

Babar: The way the team performed in the last three matches.... Thanks to the crowd, feels like we are playing at home. We had a good start in the first six overs and later on we had a good spin attack. The fast bowlers also finished very well. Our plan before going inside was to utilise the first six overs and later on everyone can come and chip in. I think he [Haris] is a young guy and showing his aggression. We will enjoy this moment, but at the same time we will focus on the final.

Masood punches his fist and the celebrations begin in Pakistan's camp. Babar and Haris are off their seats. Shadab lets out a huge roar. Pakistan's players now take a lap of honour at the SCG. Dil Dil Pakistan reverberates around the SCG.

Pakistan have made it 1992 again. After losing their first two games of the tournament, against India and Zimbabwe, Pakistan were on the brink of elimination. They are now in the final of the T20 World Cup after knocking NZ out. After the bowlers put in a clinical display on a subcontinental-style SCG track, Rizwan and Babar maximised the powerplay for Pakistan and struck up a century stand that set up their chase beautifully. Beware India/England, Babar is back in form.

What might have been had Babar not been dropped by Conway first ball? In all NZ dropped three catches on the day in a sloppy fielding display. Before Wednesday, NZ had dropped just three catches in the tournament. They had also failed to maximised their powerplay with the bat today and though Mitchell made a fine half-century it was not enough to recover lost ground. Pakistan were simply outstanding with the ball in the last six overs, allowing just 53 runs off those 36 deliveries.

Rizwan, Player of the Match: Obviously, me and Babar decided to go after the new ball and the pitch was difficult. When we finished powerplay, the discussion was one of the guys to go deep. The guys have worked hard and we have always believed.

Matthew Hayden, Pakistan mentor: Fantastic. Tonight was very special and a few things came out for us. Everyone will talk about Babar and Rizwan, but that bowling attack did an unbelievable job. Sky is the limit and both of these guys have done it for Pakistan for a number of years and I also want to mention Haris as well. He faces every fast bowler in the nets and smashes them. On this surface, the bowlers had to adapt and we got Shaheen back up and running. Once it starts to reverse-swing, boy! he's hard to handle. Haris can bowl 150kph. I'd like to face India, pretty much because of the spectacle. It's unthinkable.

Bilal Haider: "Reminder: Haris wasn't part of the squad, he's only here because Fakhar got injured midway through tournament"

Sarmad: "I can't believe my eyes, few days ago, we were almost at the bottom of table and now into the Final. Special thanks to The Netherlands ❤️ miracle my friend miracle! "

Shabaib Naqvi: "MCG.. World Cup Final.... Pakistan 1992 Reloading....."

Brent: "What the heck Black Caps?Smash Australia and meekly roll over to Pakistan, who are good team and yet only fluked their way in to semi because of a SA choke. "

Gokul Pradeep V: "Spare a thought for KW. Was under fire for his strike rate, got back to form last game with a strike rate of 174, but failed to up the ante in this crunch game and ended up with a strike rate of 109 !! "

Ashish: "If not for the dropped catches, NZ would have had the better of pakistan but it was written in the stars for paksitan to reach the finals after their fairytale entry into the semis."

Akshay : "As an Indian, tomorrow's match is now so much more exciting. Are we going to have a replay of the 1992 WC final or the 2007 T20 WC final?"