Sydney: Pakistan and New Zealand are going to clash on Wednesday in the first match of the T20 World Cup semifinals.
On Thursday, India and England are going to play a match to enter the final stage of the tournament.
How Pakistan entered semifinals?
Babar Azam and his teammates, who had lost two key Super 12 clashes against India and Zimbabwe up front, were probably thinking of their departure plans when the Netherlands favoured them by eliminating South Africa on a dramatic Sunday.
All Pakistan had to do was to beat Bangladesh in the second match of the day to make a dream semi-final.
New Zealand have lost all previous World Cup Semifinals to Pakistan
Pakistan have history backing them as New Zealand have lost all their previous World Cup semifinals to them in ODI (1992, 1999) and T20 (2007) formats.
Pakistan on the other hand would be desperate to prove that their journey to the semis is not a fluke.
Luck apart, it’s Pakistan’s bowling, superbly spearheaded by Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, that has been instrumental in their success.
Making a return from an injury layoff, Shaheen has hit the straps, especially in the last outing when he returned with a career-best four-wicket haul to stall Bangladesh progress.
With a fair knowledge of the conditions, Rauf has been their ‘silent assassin’, going about his job meticulously.
Squads
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (Captain), Martin Guptill, Finn Allen (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Trent Boult.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (Captain), Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Shan Masood, Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi.
Match starts: 1.30pm IST.
With inputs from agencies
