0, 4, 4, 6, 25, 53: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam finally hits form at T20 World Cup with semi-final fifty

Babar Azam looked back to his elegant best as Pakistan cruised to a dominant win against New Zealand at the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday. Azam started off edging one to the keeper but received a lifeline. But then he never looked back, scoring elegant boundaries and building his third century partnership with opening partner Mohammad Rizwan.

Babar Azam has faced a lot of criticism at the T20 World Cup for his below par performances. He looked out of touch and never at his elegant best. However, Azam found his feet a bit in the final Super 12 match against Pakistan with his first double-digit score of the tournament. He kept his best for the last and made a brilliant fifty to set the stage for his team to win the T20 World Cup semi-final.

 

 

 

 

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Calls were even made for Babar to demote himself in the batting line up and let youngster Mohammad Haris open the game with Rizwan. However, Pakistan coach Matthew Hayden confirmed ahead of the match that Pakistan will keep backing their star opening pair. The trust worked as Babar and Rizwan never let New Zealand come on the offensive. Striking the ball well and rotating strike, they reached their fifty partnership within the powerplay and then completed a century stand before Babar was dismissed for 53. Rizwan stood ground and also reached a half-century before getting out for 57. However, the game had been already won for Pakistan. A few hiccups followed but breakout star Haris put in another fine 30-run cameo to see Pakistan reach in touching distance of the trophy. 

The fantastic batting performance from Pakistan followed a brilliant job in the field as they restricted New Zealand to just 152/4 after 20 overs. Shaheen Shah Afridi has found form in the later stages of the tournament after initial struggles coming back from injury. He picked up two wickets in the semi-final to take his total T20 World Cup 2022 tally to 10 scalps. Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets in a convincing win.

Pakistan will now play the winner of the second semi-final between India and England in the T20 World Cup 2022 final on Sunday, November 13. 

Highlights from the match here: Pak Vs NZ T20 1st Semi-Final Match LIVE Score: Pakistan cruise to WIN, Babar-Rizwan unstoppable