Pakistan Storms into the Finals

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         Pakistan Scripted History, New Zealand Choked Again



If people are saying that, this T20 World Cup is the best WC since 2007, then we have got a perfect reason to believe in that. 27th October, the day when Pakistan lost against Zimbabwe, everyone thought it’s over for them in this WC. From that situation reaching into knockouts is itself a miracle to happen. And Pakistan did that unreal thing. Yes, the destiny was there for them, who came as South Africa’s loss against Netherlands but still they played some really good cricket too to reach there.


But imagining Pakistan reaching finals from there is absolutely crazy. All the credit to team Pakistan and their coaching staffs for maintaining that self-belief in the team and doing this stuff for their Nation and their fans. The Luck was there for them through which they reached semi-finals but winning there is completely depends on the performance on the given day. And today they have done that. New Zealand have been completely outplayed by Pakistan in today’s match at SCG.


New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first in a high pressure game, but managed to put only a score of 152 on the board. Daryl Mitchell was the stand-out performer for the team with half-century. The target of 153 was not very big but it was challenging though. But the out of form openers from Pakistan, Babar & Rizwan stood up in this big moment. They put up a 100 runs partnership and scored 50s each and helped their team to chase down the total quite easily in 19.1 overs with 7 wickets in hand.


It is for the first time since 2009, Pakistan have reached in finals of any ICC World Cups. Though they have won Champions Trophy in 2017, which is also a tournament of ICC, but WC is more special and big. So, the whole country will be proud of their team’s success. On the other-hand the team will be very keen to not just satisfy with reaching finals but will definitely eyeing to won the WC.


Pakistan have been very very consistent in T20 WC history. They have played 6 times knockouts in 8 editions, barring 2014 & 2016. Out of which it is going to be there 3rd final overall. In previous two occasions they were runner’s up in 2007 final against India and became champions in 2009. So it will be very interesting to see what they do on 13th November.


On the other hand the New Zealand team now becoming the ‘Chokers’ of ICC knockouts. The team is continuously reaching semi-finals & finals but regularly failing in big and crunch moments. Since 2015 there were 7 ICC Tournaments have been played from which New Zealand have reached knockouts 6 times from which 4 were finals. But they only managed to win once in 2021, the title of ICC World Test Championship.


This has been a regular instance for the Kiwis in recent years. We often call them ‘Good Boys’ of cricket, but they are not getting those good results. New Zealand have come here with some excellent performance in league stage, but somehow lacked that champion mentality or instinct in the semi-final. The New Zealand team management needs a serious introspection to their team’s performance in this big games.


Finally Pakistan will now wait for tomorrow’s game at Adelaide. Two white ball power houses will be up against each other, India and England. Whoever wins will face Pakistan at MCG on 13th November. Both the teams have played quite often with each other but in ICC events, especially in knockout games they haven’t played much. So it will be interesting to see who will be on the winning side.


From the perspective of Broadcaster, Fans and even ICC, all will be wanting a India vs Pakistan final at the iconic MCG. Because, that feeling and view of 1 lakh people watching cricket at a time is unreal. The atmosphere will be electric. And everyone know what is the India vs Pakistan clash is all about, the ‘Mother of all Clash’. But still we can’t ignore England. They are a giant of this format and will certainly be a threat to India. So, hope the best team win and go to finals.

 

 

 

 

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