Pakistan-NewZealand
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan score heroic fifties as Pakistan beat NZ to reach T20 WC final
Sydney: Babar Azam (52) and Mohammad Rizwan (57) made strong contributions with the willow as Pakistan beat New Zealand by seven wickets to reach the final of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Chasing 153 for victory, Pakistan reached the target by losing three wickets with five balls to spare after restricting the opponent at 152 runs for the loss of four wickets.
Pakistan was on the verge of exiting the tournament but their fortune changed last week when Netherlands defeated South Africa in a Super 12 clash.
Pakistan defeated Bangladesh to ensure a place in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Azam hammered seven boundaries in his knock to give Pakistan a strong start to their innings.
Rizwan hit five boundaries in his innings.
Mohammad Haris contributed 30 runs with the willow and his innings ensured moving close to the target.
Shan Masood (3*) and Iftikhar Ahmed (0*) remained unbeaten at the end.
New Zealand took three wickets but by that time Pakistan had already cruised towards the winning mark.
Experienced Trent Boult picked up two wickets for Kiwis.
In a repeat of the 1992 50 over World Cup scenario, Pakistan had defeated New Zealand to reach the final and eventually defeated England to clinch the trophy.
India will face England in the other semi-final and a victory by Rohit Sharma and his team will create a grand final clash between the arch-rivals.
Earlier, Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten 53 from 35 balls helped New Zealand to recover from early jolts and reach a total of 152/4 in the semifinal of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup against Pakistan at the SCG here on Wednesday.
Pakistan put up a brilliant show to restrict New Zealand. They were nimble-footed, throwing themselves to the ground to save runs, except one run-out miss.
Left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi got Pakistan to a great start by removing the out-of-the form Finn Allen cheaply for 4 in the very first over of the match.
Shadab Khan's direct-hit sent back Devon Conway (21 off 20, 3x4s) run out, but Ken Williamson picked up the gauntlet and decided to bat through, milking Pakistani bowlers to keep the scorecard ticking.
Glenn Phillips failed by scoring just six, but Daryl Mitchell did succeed yet again in a T20 World Cup semifinal. He joined the elite list of batters, who scored half centuries twice in the T20 World Cup semifinals.
Earlier, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli had achieved this milestone.
Gayle had scored 63 not out versus Sri Lanka at the Oval in 2009 and unbeaten 75 against Australia in Colombo in 2012, while Kohli scored 72 not out against South Africa in 2014 in Mirpur and 89 not out against West Indies at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium in 2016.
Mitchell had scored his first half-ton of 72 not out against England in Abu Dhabi last year.
Williamson departed for 46 from 42 deliveries just when their innings entered the death overs, but Mitchell carried on and helped New Zealand cross 150.
It didn't look good for New Zealand at the end of 10 overs, but they regrouped at drinks break and smacked 28 runs off the next 13 balls to lift themselves.
They nudged the ball in gaps and got twos at will to ensure there was no slowing down despite not many boundaries.
Afridi (2/24) was the pick of the bowlers, but others were disciplined too.
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