The much-awaited knockouts of the T20 8.com/world/">World Cup 2022 are here and the action begins in Sydney on Wednesday as Pakistan and New Zealand lock horns with each other in the first semi-final. The Kiwis were the first side to make their way into the semis while Babar Azam & Co made a backdoor entry, thanking the Netherlands for knocking out South Africa and creating a chance for them.
It is the second edition in a row when Pakistan and New Zealand have made it to the semi-finals. However, this year, they are up against each other. Ahead of the much-awaited game, Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first. The skipper confirmed that they are going unchanged for the all-important clash.
NZ vs PAK Live Cricket Score T20 World Cup 2022 1st Semi-final Updates
“We are gonna have a bat. It used surface, with not much grass on it. We’re going with the same team. Same pitch but different I reckon. It’s important we adjust to those changing conditions and assess quickly. There are a few unknowns, important we stick to our plans. Our focus is on this game, what we want to do here and really try to express ourselves with the cricket we’ve been playing,” said Williamson after winning the toss.
Pakistan captain Babar said his team would have batted first as well. However, they will now try to put pressure on the opposition by bowling first in the game.
“Even we would have batted first. We’ll try to take advantage of the early conditions and put pressure on them. Same team. We lost our first two matched but the way the team played in the last three matches, we are confident as a team and we’ll look to carry that momentum. New Zealand have quality players, we’ll try to be calm and play according to the situation. We are trying to focus on this match,” said Babar at the toss.
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Here are the Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi.
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
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