Sydney: Pakistan eased into the T20 World Cup final beating New Zealand by 7 wickets at the SCH here on Wednesday.
All eyes will now be on Thursday’s second semifinal between India and England, with the cricketing world yearning for an India victory which will set up another mouth-watering clash of the traditional rivals.
Team India will fancy their chances against England at Adelaide Oval, which offers one of the best batting tracks in Australia and will also suit their spinners. And, it also happens to be one of Virat Kohli’s happy hunting grounds.
Kohli, who hit his maiden Test century at this venue a decade back, followed it up with hundreds in both innings of his first match as India Test captain.
Just three days ago, Kohli continued his red-hot form in the ongoing World Cup with an unbeaten 64 against Bangladesh at Adelaide.
The former India captain was hit on the body by a Harshal Patel delivery during nets today, but he resumed batting and should be fit for the game against England.
The Indians must have watched Pakistan’s performance against New Zealand and noted how their out-of-form openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan roared back to form with individual fifties and a century stand.
Pakistan’s fielding was top class too, and the bowlers did well to restrict New Zealand to a modest 152/4. Shaheen Shah Afridi, in particular, showed glimpses of his best form as he bagged 2/24 in 4 overs.
Brief scores: New Zealand 152/4 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 53*, Kane Williamson 46; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2/24). Pakistan 153/3 in 19.1 overs (Md Rizwan 57, Babar Azam 53).
Result: Pakistan won by 7 wickets.
Final: Pakistan vs winner of India vs England.
