T20 World Cup 2022: Three things that stood out in Pakistan's win over New Zealand in the semi-final

Pakistan beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup at the SCG on Wednesday. The South Asian side thus maintained their impeccable record against the Kiwis in the semi-finals of the World Cup. This is also the first time they have qualified for the final of the T20 World Cup since their triumph in 2009.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first. They made 152/4 in the stipulated 20 overs, but Pakistan then reached the target with five balls to spare.

We will now take a look at three things that stood out in the match:

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#1 New Zealand posted a competitive total thanks to Mitchell's application and Williamson's patience

New Zealand made a shaky start, losing Finn Allen to Shaheen Shah Afridi in the very first over. The Kiwis were then restricted to 49/3 off eight overs and looked to be struggling to post a decent total.

However, Daryl Mitchell (53*) and skipper Kane Williamson (46) then added 68 for the fourth wicket to take New Zealand to a respectable position. Both kept nudging deliveries from the spinners to the mid-wicket region and rotating the strike with ones and twos.

Mitchell also used his feet nicely against Shadab Khan, who kept pitching the ball short and hoisted him down the ground on a few occasions. As Williamson departed, Jimmy Neesham joined Mitchell and took the team's score past 150.

It looked like a competitive total on a pitch that offered assistance to the spinners, as was evident from Glenn Phillips' dismissal while playing across and seeing the ball turn to take the edge of the bat. For Pakistan, Afridi (2/24) was the pick of the bowlers and his tactic of bowling round the wicket in his second spell was a really good one.

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#2 Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan gave Pakistan a perfect start

Babar and Rizwan ensured Pakistan's win with a brilliant partnership

Rizwan (57) and Babar (53) gave Pakistan the start they aspired for. Babar played a brilliant straight drive off Boult and Rizwan hit a couple of lovely pull shots to take the pressure off themselves. They also showed more positive intent in the powerplay than they had prior to the semifinal.

The new-ball pair of Trent Boult and Tim Southee looked ineffective as the ball did not swing much and that made the Pakistani openers' job easier. Both the openers kept hitting boundaries whenever the Kiwis tried to build any sort of pressure.

Although New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi managed to check the flow of runs somewhat, they could not break the partnership and Pakistan surpassed 100 runs without losing any wickets.

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#3 Mohammad Haris continued his impressive strokeplay to finish the match

Mohammad Haris (30), who has impressed everyone with his free-flowing strokeplay since getting a chance to play in this World Cup, joined Rizwan after Babar's dismissal and continued his good work.

Haris faced some difficulties while playing the spinners as well as the slower deliveries from the Kiwi pacers. However, he could still render a few lusty blows, with a terrific hook for a six off Lockie Ferguson over the deep square-leg.

Still, his tendency to repeatedly play the sweep shots against the spinners – even against deliveries pitched short of a good length – has to be checked in future matches and he should be ready to play more frequently off his back foot against them.

Rizwan and Haris also ran well between the wickets and did not allow the pressure to build on them. New Zealand finally managed to dismiss both of them, but Pakistan's win was never really in doubt and they achieved the target with relative ease.