A disappointed New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said losing the T20 World Cup semi-final was a “tough pill to swallow” but admitted his team was not disciplined enough to beat a much superior Pakistan here. challenge on Wednesday. New Zealand, the runner-up from the previous edition, was outclassed in the semi-final by Pakistan, who put up a clinical show to take a comfortable seven-wicket victory to sail into their third T20 World Cup final.
“Very disappointing to not make Pakistan work much harder. They were excellent. We were outplayed. It’s a tough pill for us to swallow. Babar (Azam) and (Mohammad) Rizwan put us under pressure,” Williamson said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Pakistan first limited New Zealand to 152 for four on a slow SCG track and then chased the target with great ease, riding skipper Babar and Rizwan’s attacking fifties to book their place in the T20 World Cup final after 13 years.
“We were put under pressure early on. Pakistan bowled really nicely. We managed to get some momentum back with an incredible knock from (Daryl) Mitchell. Half way through we felt like it was a competitive total. Wicket was a bit difficult — used surface,” Williamson said.
New Zealand didn’t have the momentum after losing their openers early – Finn Allen (4) and Devon Conway (21). Williamson (46) and Mitchell (53) then added 68 runs for the fourth wicket to bring them up to a decent total.
“If we’re honest, we wanted to be more disciplined in our areas. In the end, Pakistan definitely deserves to be winners. There’s been a lot of good cricket,” said the Kiwi captain.
“We played well in the round-robin. Today we weren’t at our best. That said, we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket.” Pakistani captain Babar Azam praised his bowlers for setting up the win.
“The way the team performed in the last three games… Thanks to the crowd it feels like we’re playing at home. We had a good start in the first six overs and later we had a good spin attack. The fast bowlers also finished very good,” said Babar, who scored a 42-ball 53.
“Our plan before going in was to use the first six overs and later anyone can come and chip. We will enjoy this moment, but at the same time we will focus on the final.” Rizwan, who was named Player of the Match for his 43-ball 57, said he and Babar always believed in it, despite struggling to score points in the group stage of the ongoing showpiece.
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“Fortunately, the fifty were in the semi-finals. Babar and I had a hard time, but we worked hard and believed. We kept fighting. When we crossed the border line, we decided to focus the attack on the new ball bowlers,” he said.
“Once we finished the power play, we knew one of us had to hit deep because it was a tough throw. Our start (to the tournament) wasn’t good, but the guys kept believing in it.” Pakistan will now face the winner of Thursday’s second semi-final between India and England in the final in Melbourne.
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