Even miraculous will be an understatement for the Pakistan Cricket team as they came back from the dead to defeat New Zealand in the first semifinals and have progressed to the finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Pakistan captain Babar Azam shared how they were looking to be very aggressive right from the start as they were looking to chase down 150. Babar and Mohammed Rizwan were aggressive as they knew they had to capitalize on the powerplay and put the Kiwi bowlers on the backfoot.
After they were told to field first, Pakistan’s star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi had a great performance as he picked up two crucial wicked and restricted the Kiwis to 152/4.
Pakistan in this World Cup have been very topsy turvy and hence a lot of people thought that things could get tricky for Babar Azam and company. But both the captain and Rizwan came out all out blazing and utilized the powerplay and also took it beyond putting up a 105 runs opening stand with both batters scoring half centuries. At the end, Pakistan chased down the target with five balls to spare in a very one sided battle.
Pakistan’s unbeaten record in ICC tournaments also remained intact as they have won four out of four matches against the Kiwis.
In the post match press conference, Babar Azam opened up on the mistakes that they have made in the Super 12 as he highlights how the format is such that things can change in no time. He said, “Sometimes when you think about certain plans and when you go inside (the pitch), you are unable to execute them. Then you eventually have pressure. In T20 you have to take risks, sometimes else you cannot set up a good total. When you try to do something extra, you tend to make mistakes.”
Speaking about his thoughts before the chase in the semifinals against New Zealand, Babar Azam highlighted how the intention was to attack the bowlers early on and put them under pressure.
Babar has had a very lean patch with the bat before the semifinals and there was talk all around social media involving fans, former players, etc to split the Pakistan opening pair as many people wanted Babar to bat down the order due to his rough patch. However the fifty from the Pakistan captain’s bat in the all important semifinal was a reply to all the doubters.
“There was nothing going in our mind (regarding splitting the opening pair). We were waiting for our time. In cricket you intend to score runs in each game but there are ups and downs which many go through,” Babar Azam opened up.
Pakistan have now become the first team in this event to reach the finals and will face either India or England in the finals of the World Cup on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
