Pakistan beat New Zealand by 7 wickets to reach the World T20 final after 13 years

The 1st semifinal of the ongoing T20 World Cup was played between Pakistan and New Zealand on Wednesday at Sydney Cricket Ground. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson elected to bat first after winning the toss as they scored 152/4 in their 20 overs.

Pakistan clinched the victory as they scored 153/7 in their 20 overs. They have reached the final of a T20 World Cup after 13 long years. The last time they played a final way was back in 2009 and went on to become champions.

The Blackcaps after winning the toss came out to bat and had a poor start to their inning as they suffered the early blow in the third ball of the first over. Finn Allen was dismissed by Shaheen Afridi for 4 runs in 3 balls.

They lost their second wicket in the 6th over as Devon Conway got run out for 21 runs in 20 balls. The team was heading towards a small partnership before they lost another wicket in the 8th over as Glenn Phillips departed for 6 runs in 8 balls.

Skipper Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell then joined each other to rescue their team as they put up a 66-run stand for the 4th wicket. New Zealand then lost their 4th wicket in the 17th over as the captain Williamson was dismissed for 46 runs.

Mitchell and Neesham remained unbeaten on 53 runs and 16 runs respectively. Shaheen Afridi took 2 wickets with Mohammad Nawaz getting a single wicket for Pakistan.

Chasing the target, Pakistan had a brilliant start as both the out-of-form openers Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam looked in sublime touch. They started scoring quick runs and finished the powerplay with 55 runs without losing any wickets.

Both openers put up a 105-run partnership before Babar's dismissal in the 13th over who scored 53 runs in 42 balls. Rizwan then reached his half-century before getting dismissed in the 17th over for 57 runs in 43 balls with the help of five boundaries.

Mohammad Haris was then dismissed as their 3rd wicket who departed for 30 runs. Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed remained unbeaten on 2 runs and 1 run respectively.