Pakistan on Wednesday (9 November) booked their spot in the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, beating New Zealand by seven wickets in the first semi-final in Sydney.
It was a remarkable turnaround for Babar Azam’s Pakistan, who had lost to India and Zimbabwe in the first two matches of the Super 12 group stage on the trot and were staring at an early elimination. But there was still some hope and quite a few permutations and combinations that worked for the Asian side. Apart from hoping for other results to go in their favour, Pakistan beat Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh in the Super 12 stage, the last of which was a virtual knockout game given the Proteas had lost to Netherlands in the earlier game.
Pakistan are now going into the final of this year’s T20 World Cup, where they will meet either India or England on 13 November at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. They turned the odds in their favour.
We take a look at the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team’s journey in the competition so far.
India vs Pakistan
Pakistan had put up 159/8 in 20 overs in Melbourne after Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed scored individual half-centuries.
The bowlers then took the onus and ripped apart the Indian batting unit to leave them struggling at 31/4.
But Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya had other plans as they chipped in with a 113-run stand for the fifth wicket.
The high-voltage encounter got more intensified in the final phase of the game. India needed 31 from the final two overs when Kohli showed his class and hammered two consecutive sixes against Haris Rauf on the last two balls of the 19th over.
The equation was now down to 16 needed off 6 and Babar handed the ball to Nawaz who had a tough day at the office. But the spinner removed Pandya on the very first ball and gave only three runs in the first three balls.
But he then made a massive mistake. Nawaz bowled a waist-height no-ball to Kohli who dispatched it for a six. The bowler then followed it with a wide before India eventually got three byes on the free hit.
India needed two off two with Dinesh Karthik on strike. The right-handed batter stepped out but missed it completely to get stumped out leaving the team in a spot of bother again.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the next man in and probably the most cool-headed man present at the stadium at that point. Nawaz made another blunder of bowling a wide going down the leg. The equation was now 1 needed from the last ball.
The Indian batter kept his cool and played the final ball over mid-off to get the winning runs. India won by 4 wickets.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off 53.
Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
This probably was one of the biggest upsets in this edition of the T20 World Cup. Pakistan bowlers had done their job well after restricting Zimbabwe to 130/8 in 20 overs.
But the batters had a disappointing run as the side lost wickets at regular intervals and were eventually restricted to 129/8 in 20 overs.
Shan Masood showed some mettle as he scored 44 off 38 but his efforts weren’t enough to take the side home. Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe by 1 run.
Pakistan vs Netherlands
Pakistan finally got off the mark after beating the Netherlands by 6 wickets while chasing a target of 92 runs. Babar Azam’s troops restricted the Dutch at 91/9 in 20 overs and later chased down the target in the 14th over.
Rizwan top-scored with 49 off 39.
Pakistan vs South Africa
The clash between Pakistan and South Africa certainly changed the equation and qualification scenarios. Moreover, rain once again played a spoilsport but it did work in Pakistan’s favour.
Batting first the Asian side posted 185/9 in 20 overs. In reply, the Proteas were 69/4 in 9 overs when the play was halted due to rain and the target was eventually reduced to 142 in 14 overs.
South Africa needed 73 from the final five overs but they were restricted to 108/9. Shaheen Afridi bagged a three-fer as Pakistan took away two crucial points.
Pakistan vs Bangladesh
Pakistan now had four points from four games while South Africa had five as one of their matches was also called off due to rain.
The Temba Bavuma-led side had to win the last group stage match against the Netherlands to march ahead. But for Pakistan, the equation was now a bit tricky.
The situation was that South Africa’s defeat against the Netherlands would have given Pakistan as well as Bangladesh a fair chance for making the qualification as both the sides had four points each and were slated to lock horns with each other in their last respective group stage game.
And it did happen.
South Africa lost to the Netherlands and handed a genuine chance to both Pakistan and Bangladesh to qualify for the semis.
Pakistan didn’t let this slip away as Shaheen Afridi stepped up on the occasion, and scalped four wickets against Bangladesh. Pakistan restricted them to 127/8 in 20 overs and then chased down the target by 5 wickets. Pakistan will now play New Zealand in the semi-final on Wednesday in Sydney.
New Zealand vs Pakistan, 1st semi-final
Some might say Pakistan were surprise entrants to the T20 World Cup semi-finals given the position they were in once at the group stage, and when the first semi-final was played in Sydney on 9 November, they delivered yet another memorable performance.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat. It was a dream start for Pakistan, as Shaheen Afridi struck in just the third ball of the match, to get rid of Finn Allen (4). While Devon Conway and Kane Williamson (46) forged a 34-run stand for the second wicket before Conway departed, the Black Caps skipper could only forge 11 runs for the third wicket with Glenn Phillips, who was caught and bowled by Mohammad Nawaz. Wickets at intervals hurt Kiwis’ momentum, but captain Kane and Daryl Mitchell (53*) rebuilt the innings with a 58-run stand for the fourth wicket before the skipper departed. New Zealand eventually posted 152/4 on the board.
In reply, Pakistan were almost utterly dominant with the bat as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan forged a 105-run stand for the opening wicket. Trent Boult struck in the 13th over to remove Azam for 53 but Pakistan were already in a strong position having crossed 100-run mark. Boult struck again in the 17th over to see off Rizwan for 57.
Mohammed Harris was the batter next who joined Shan Masood in the middle, but the duo could only add 19 runs before Harris departed. That did not matter, however, since Pakistan needed just two runs to win, and while Tim Southee conceded a wide off the first ball of the 20th over, Masood then finished the proceedings with straight-driven single past mid-off, as Pakistan won the contest and entered their first T20 World Cup final in 13 years, and their third title clash in the tournament overall.
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