Player of the Match
Player of the Match

10.50pm Pakistan have qualified for the final from outtta nowhere. Heartbreak for NZ once again. That's all she wrote for today. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off on the behalf of Alan Gardner, Thilak Ram and Chandan Duorah. Take care and cheers.

Williamson: I thought Pakistan played nicely and then we managed to wrestle back some momentum. At the halfway mark we thought we had a competitive total but disappointing not to make Pakistan work harder [in the chase]. A tough pill for us to swallow, we certainly pride ourselves in a number of areas, strengths of ours, and didn't quite do that today. Fielding was okay...but I think if we want to be honest, we wanted to be more disciplined with our areas. Like I said, Pakistan deserved to win. Throughout the round-robin stages, we played nicely and today we weren't at our best. Having said that, we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket.

Babar: The way the team performed in the last three matches.... Thanks to the crowd, feels like we are playing at home. We had a good start in the first six overs and later on we had a good spin attack. The fast bowlers also finished very well. When we crossed the boundary line, me and Babar decided that we can attack the new ball, because we knew that the pitch was tricky, a little bit difficult, and 150 [153] was a good target on this pitch," Rizwan said. "We decided we're going to do hard work and attack these guys, and when we finish the powerplay, one of the guys will go deep, because obviously pitch was tricky, and Alhamdulillah, Allah helped us and we succeeded. I think he [Haris] is a young guy and showing his aggression. We will enjoy this moment, but at the same time we will focus on the final.

Masood punches his fist and the celebrations begin in Pakistan's camp. Babar and Haris are off their seats. Shadab lets out a huge roar. Pakistan's players now take a lap of honour at the SCG. Dil Dil Pakistan reverberates around the SCG.

Pakistan have made it 1992 again. After losing their first two games of the tournament, against India and Zimbabwe, Pakistan were on the brink of elimination. They are now in the final of the T20 World Cup after knocking NZ out. After the bowlers put in a clinical display on a subcontinental-style SCG track, Rizwan and Babar maximised the powerplay for Pakistan and struck up a century stand that set up their chase beautifully. Beware India/England, Babar is back in form.

What might have been had Babar not been dropped by Conway first ball? In all NZ dropped three catches on the day in a sloppy fielding display. Before Wednesday, NZ had dropped just three catches in the tournament. They had also failed to maximised their powerplay with the bat today and though Mitchell made a fine half-century it was not enough to recover lost ground. Pakistan were simply outstanding with the ball in the last six overs, allowing just 53 runs off those 36 deliveries.

Rizwan, Player of the Match: Obviously, me and Babar decided to go after the new ball and the pitch was difficult. When we finished powerplay, the discussion was one of the guys to go deep. The guys have worked hard and we have always believed.

Matthew Hayden, Pakistan mentor: Fantastic. Tonight was very special and a few things came out for us. Everyone will talk about Babar and Rizwan, but that bowling attack did an unbelievable job. Sky is the limit and both of these guys have done it for Pakistan for a number of years and I also want to mention Haris as well. He faces every fast bowler in the nets and smashes them.  On this surface, the bowlers had to adapt and we got Shaheen back up and running. Once it starts to reverse-swing, boy! he's hard to handle. Haris can bowl 150kph. I'd like to face India, pretty much because of the spectacle. It's unthinkable.

Bilal Haider: "Reminder: Haris wasn't part of the squad, he's only here because Fakhar got injured midway through tournament"

Sarmad: "I can't believe my eyes, few days ago, we were almost at the bottom of table and now into the Final. Special thanks to The Netherlands ❤️ miracle my friend miracle! "

Shabaib Naqvi: "MCG.. World Cup Final.... Pakistan 1992 Reloading....."

Brent: "What the heck Black Caps?Smash Australia and meekly roll over to Pakistan, who are good team and yet only fluked their way in to semi because of a SA choke. "

Gokul Pradeep V: "Spare a thought for KW. Was under fire for his strike rate, got back to form last game with a strike rate of 174, but failed to up the ante in this crunch game and ended up with a strike rate of 109 !! "

Ashish: "If not for the dropped catches, NZ would have had the better of pakistan but it was written in the stars for paksitan to reach the finals after their fairytale entry into the semis."

Akshay : "As an Indian, tomorrow's match is now so much more exciting. Are we going to have a replay of the 1992 WC final or the 2007 T20 WC final?"


19.1
1
Southee to Shan Masood, 1 run, back of a length and holds its line outside off, punched straight of mid-off with a high elbow. Pakistan have done it. They're into the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup and how
19.1
1w
Southee to Shan Masood, 1 wide, Southee floats a slower ball down the leg side from round the wicket, left alone. Wide called

Four inside the circle on off side and two on leg side.

END OF OVER:
19 | 6 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 151/3 (2 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.94, RRR: 2.00)

  • Shan Masood2 (3b)
  • Mitchell Santner4-0-26-1
  • Lockie Ferguson4-0-37-0
18.6
W
Santner to Mohammad Haris, OUT, Caught at short fine leg. Finn Allen makes no mistake. Haris jumps across off stump even before Santner delivers. The left-arm fingerspinner adjusts and darts it shorter to hit the top edge. End of a fine innings from Haris

Mohammad Haris c Allen b Santner 30 (32m 26b 2x4 1x6) SR: 115.38

18.5
3b
Santner to Shan Masood, 3 byes, good length and turns back in very sharply from outside off to beat the inside edge of Masood, leg stump, as well as Conway. Conway's night gets worse
18.4
1
Santner to Mohammad Haris, 1 run, short and Santner hides it away from the swinging arc of Haris. Forced away to sweeper cover
18.3
1
Santner to Shan Masood, 1 run, Masood makes room and cuts this shorter one to sweeper cover
18.2
1
Santner to Mohammad Haris, 1 run, Dropped by Sodhi this time at short third. He stretches out, dives forward, and shells it. Haris goes for the reverse-sweep and miscues it
18.1
0
Santner to Mohammad Haris, no run, looped up and turns away outside off, Haris sweeps and misses

END OF OVER:
18 | 13 Runs | PAK: 145/2 (8 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.05, RRR: 4.00)

  • Mohammad Haris28 (22b)
  • Shan Masood1 (1b)
  • Lockie Ferguson4-0-37-0
  • Trent Boult4-0-33-2
17.6
1
Ferguson to Mohammad Haris, 1 run, down the track and cracked away to deep cover as Pakistan close in on victory
17.5
6
Ferguson to Mohammad Haris, SIX, This is even better and bigger from Haris. WHOOOOOAAAAA! Another audacious hit from Haris. Chest-high short ball, angling into him, cramps him, but Haris nails the hook. Launches Ferguson over square leg for six - the first of Pakistan's innings
17.4
4
Ferguson to Mohammad Haris, FOUR, drilled past the left of mid-off. Terrific shot from Haris. He backs away and manufactures swinging room. Ferguson hits the blockhole or rather just misses the yorker. Haris sits so very deep and belts it past the infielder. This guy has serious talent
17.3
0
Ferguson to Mohammad Haris, no run, on-pace length ball, angling in, Haris slogs, loses his shape and ekes out an inside edge back to Conway
17.2
1
Ferguson to Shan Masood, 1 run, full and just a shade outside off, driven to Williamson at short midwicket who does not collect the ball cleanly now

Masood is the new man for Pakistan

17.1
1b
Ferguson to Mohammad Haris, 1 bye, slower ball outside off, grips and floats away outside after beating the outside edge. Conway fumbles and they hare across for a bye

END OF OVER:
17 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 132/2 (21 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.76, RRR: 7.00)

  • Mohammad Haris17 (17b)
  • Trent Boult4-0-33-2
  • Tim Southee3-0-22-0
16.6
W
Boult to Mohammad Rizwan, OUT, Holes out to sweeper cover. GP won't drop it. Regulation chance. Rizwan manufactures swinging room, Boult aims for the yorker, but comes out as a full-toss outside off. Rizwan shimmies out and slaps it to Phillips. Hang on, is this a beamer? Replays suggest that it was just below the waistline. It's a legal delivery and Rizwan has to depart. GP was also alert enough to throw the ball to Boult who took the bails off for the run out

Mohammad Rizwan c Phillips b Boult 57 (77m 43b 5x4 0x6) SR: 132.55

16.5
0
Boult to Mohammad Rizwan, no run, Rizwan jumps out his crease, slogs to the leg side and misses this length delivery

Venu: "SCG looks like lahore today! Imagine tomorrow it will be a mix of chepauk,chinnaswamy,wankade "

16.4
2
Boult to Mohammad Rizwan, 2 runs, full and outside off, belted past Boult to the left of Mitchell at wide long-on
16.3
1lb
Boult to Mohammad Haris, 1 leg bye, Haris shuffles across off even before Boult delivers the ball. Haris swings for the hills and might have edged it onto his pad... or not. NZ have lost their reviews

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st105Mohammad RizwanBabar Azam
2nd27Mohammad RizwanMohammad Haris
3rd19Shan MasoodMohammad Haris
4th2Shan MasoodIftikhar Ahmed

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

First Round Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL32140.667
NED3214-0.162
NAM31220.73
UAE3122-1.235
First Round Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
ZIM32140.2
IRE32140.105
SCOT31220.304
WI3122-0.563
Group 1
TeamMWLPTNRR
NZ53172.113
ENG53170.473
AUS5317-0.173
SL5234-0.422
IRE5133-1.615
AFG5032-0.571
Group 2
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND54181.319
PAK53261.028
SA52250.874
NED5234-0.849
BAN5234-1.176
ZIM5133-1.138