Pakistan will play New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 9.
With an aim to make a place in the finals of the T20 World Cup 2022, Pakistan and New Zealand will square off in the first semi-final of the marquee event at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Apart from winning their Super-12 matches, Pakistan was also dependent upon other teams’ outcomes at times during the previous round of the tournament.
A win against Bangladesh in their last super-12 encounter, after South Africa lost to the Netherlands, booked them a spot in the semi-finals for the second time in a row. Pakistan lost to Australia last year at the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-finals but would be hoping to become the first team to enter the finals of the global event.
In the previous game against Bangladesh, the openers looked like they were getting back on track. It took them time to get going, but they shared a 57-run opening stand before Babar Azam was dismissed in the 11th over.
The Babar-Rizwan duo needs to step up and put on a show with the bat, given the intensity of the upcoming fixture. They have recently faced New Zealand during the Tri-series, which will be beneficial for the two to tackle the Kiwi bowlers.
Fakhar Zaman’s injury made way for Mohammad Haris into the team, and the 21-year-old youngster managed to leave an impact on the viewers and the team management in his very first game against South Africa. After scoring a quick-fire 11-ball 28 against the Proteas, he fired up against Bangladesh in a pressure situation and notched up an 18-ball 31.
Shan Masood looked promising against Bangladesh, and also played an important role in the games against India and Zimbabwe. He would be looking to add the crucial runs while batting in the middle-order, so as to anchor the team’s innings in case of an early scare.
Iftikhar Ahmed’s recent outing against Bangladesh was awful, but he was at his finest against South Africa where he played a rather composed knock to bring up his half-century score.
Shadab Khan is in tremendous form with the ball. Except for the campaign opener against India, Shadab has managed to pick at least one wicket in the other four encounters of the Super 12 stage, and thus has 10 wickets from the previous four outings. He has also been handy with the bat and has helped Pakistan get the important runs in the middle. Mohammad Nawaz has not managed to impress either with the bat or with the ball, but will be working upon himself for the next encounter.
Mohammad Wasim has been impactful for Pakistan on the bowling front and has seven wickets from five games of the previous stage. As impressive he was at the Asia Cup, Naseem Shah’s performance at the T20 World Cup 2022 has witnessed a downward graph as he only has three wickets from five games.
Haris Rauf has managed to strike at least once in every game and has provided the side with wickets at crucial stages in the game. Shaheen Afridi will be the one to look out for, as he has been in great form since the past two games, having picked seven wickets in just two games.
Pakistan’s Predicted XI vs New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
