NZ VS PAK - 1st Semi-Final, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022

From the brink of elimination in the Super 12, Pakistan have stormed back to reach the final! They did it in style today! So much talk of how the stars are aligning for Babar's team.. we'll keep that on hold till Sunday where they will face one of India or England, and you can only wonder what the people want. The second semifinal takes place tomorrow in Adelaide. Do join us for it. That's all for now. It's a goodbye from Sagar Chawla on behalf of Siva, Ramakrishnan MS, Abhinand Raghavendran and Raju Peethala!

Babar: Thanks to the crowd. We feel like we're playing at home. Got a good start with the first 6 overs with the ball. Later on the ball didn't come on well. Fast bowlers finished well. We planned before going that we'll utilise the powerplay. He's a young guy and showing his aggression (Haris). He's playing very well. We're going to enjoy this moment. But at the same time have focus on the final.

Williamson: We were put under pressure early. Pakistan bowled very nicely. We managed to wrestle back some momentum with an unbelievable knock from Mitchell. At the halfway stage we were feeling it was a competitive total. Wicket was a bit tough - used surface. Very disappointing to not make Pakistan work a lot harder. They were outstanding. We were outplayed. It's a tough pill for us to swallow. Babar and Rizwan put us under pressure. If we're honest, we wanted to be more disciplined in our areas. At the end of the day, Pakistan certainly deserve to be winners. There's been a lot of good cricket. Throughout the round-robin, we've played nicely. Today we weren't at our best. Having said that, we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket.

Matthew Hayden | Pakistan team mentor: Tonight was very special. That fast bowling attack you saw did an unbelievable job. I don't think we have seen our best yet, which is probably the scarier part for whoever faces us (in the final). Could be a truer surface and nicer batting track in Melbourne. Sky is the limit. You can never beat down class. Both these guys (Babar, Rizwan) have done it for a number of years. Haris has smashed every bowler in the nets. The bowlers had to adapt to this pitch and bowl slower balls and they did so well. Haris Rauf is bowling consistent 150s. If Pakistan on their day turn up, they are unstoppable. Shadab is a great fighter. To win any tournament you got to fight. I would like to play India in the final purely because of the big spectacle.

Mohammad Rizwan | Player of the Match: Luckily, the fifty was in the semifinal. Babar and I were struggling but we worked hard and believed. We kept fighting. When we crossed the boundary line, we decided to take the attack to the new ball bowlers. When we finished the powerplay, we knew one of us had to bat deep as it was a tricky pitch. Our start (to the tournament) wasn't good, but the guys kept believing.

STAT: Most wins vs a team in T20Is
18 Pak vs NZ
17 Ind vs WI
17 Ind vs SL
17 Eng vs Pak

First win in T20 World Cup semifinal for Pakistan since 2009

Fourth World Cup semifinal for Pakistan against New Zealand in as many games. Twice in ODIs (1992 & 1999) and twice in T20Is (2007 & 2022)

Only the second time since the start of 2021 WC Tim Southee has gone wicketless in a T20I. The other instance came against Australia in the final last year.

Fielding blips cost New Zealand? As mentioned earlier, New Zealand have been the best fielding side of the tournament until the Super 12s with an 88 percent success rate. They dropped 3 and held 19 catches (before the semis), but unfortunately for them - they missed 3 catches and a couple of run-outs tonight which only aggravated matters as Babar Azam (dropped on 0) made the most of his opportunity to compile his best score of this World Cup and engineer a 100-plus partnership (the first pair to have 3 100-plus stands in T20 WCs) with Rizwan while at it.

22:28 Local Time, 11:28 GMT, 16:58 IST: It's incredible how things are falling in place for Pakistan as they make their first T20 World Cup final in 13 years. Today it was the opening pair, the much-scrutinised opening pair of Babar and Rizwan, who rose to the occasion with fifties apiece. Their bowling was brilliant again to restrict New Zealand to 152. But that total had the potential to be a tricky one on a slow pitch if their problems at the top had continued. However all that talk was put to rest as the duo got them off to a firing start and settled the nerves. New Zealand weren't quite up to scratch with the new ball either, with Boult and Southee going for plenty. The fielding also was a bit sloppy, in contrast to Pakistan who were just ON tonight!

Southee to Masood, 1 run, that's it! Pakistan are in the final! They have beaten New Zealand comprehensively tonight, and Masood finishes it off with a lovely straight drive past mid-off. The crowd has been celebrating in the stands for a good while, and now the celebrations begin in the dugout as well

Southee to Masood, wide, that's one of them! A wide down the leg-side from Southee as he misdirects the slower ball. Scores level

Tim Southee [3.0-0-22-0] is back into the attack

Iftikhar Ahmed, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Pakistan need just 2 runs in the final over

Santner to Mohammad Haris, out Caught by Finn Allen!! Haris won't be getting Pakistan over the line tonight, but he's done his job. He tries sweeping this from outside off, Santner slows it down again, and Haris can only drag it to short fine. Mohammad Haris c Finn Allen b Santner 30(26) [4s-2 6s-1]

Santner to Mohammad Haris, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Santner to Masood, byes, 3 runs, sharp turn off a good length, goes right through the gate and beats everyone! It misses leg stump and runs away fine. Pakistan just two away..

Santner to Mohammad Haris, 1 run, tossed up outside off, lands on a length and turns away, and Haris slaps it through to sweeper cover