After almost slipping away from their semi-final chances in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan have phoenix-likely qualified for the finals for the 3rd time. Let’s take a look at the team’s wins and losses in this T20 World Cup series from the start till now.
After losing to Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup, Pakistan made it to the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup. The Pakistan team was seen as a strong team with top opening batsmen Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, top bowlers Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and all-rounder Shatab Khan. Especially in last year’s T20 tournament, Rizwan had the honor of scoring 1326 runs in 29 innings and became the first player to score most runs in T20 tournament in a single year.
Failure in the first two matches!
While the team was expected to achieve many achievements anyway, the team, which was in Group 2 in the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup, was shocked by losing its first 2 matches. They lost the first match against India by 4 wickets and the match against Kathucutti side Zimbabwe by one run.
Captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who always set up a team and give a strong start, were shocked by losing wickets early on. In the match against India, Babar Azam was ducked out and Rizwan scored only 4 runs.
Last place in the points list!
Similarly, in the match against Zimbabwe, Rizwan scored 14 runs and Babar Azam scored only 4 runs. Not giving a strong start in both these matches, relying solely on them and not having batsmen who can provide a calm performance in the middle order was seen as a setback for the team. As a result, it was expected that Pakistan, which was at the bottom of the points table, would not be selected for the semi-finals.
gave hope Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaun Ahmed!
Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaan Ahmed and Shatab Khan played well in this series. As a result, Pakistan won the match against the Netherlands by 6 wickets and the match against the strong South Africa by 33 runs.
In these matches, Rizwan (49 runs) scored in the match against Netherlands and the middle order players Ahmed, Nawaz and Shatab Khan played well in the match against South Africa, the reason for Pakistan’s victory. And when Shatab Khan and Shaheen Afridi took quick wickets, the victory got stronger.
Progress from 5th to 3rd place!
With these two wins, they moved up from 5th place to 3rd place with 4 points. They also won against South Africa by a huge margin and got a good run rate. Due to this, there was a tough competition between India, South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh in Group 2. Especially the three-way competition was seen with India, Pakistan and South Africa teams.
Lucky for Pakistan thanks to Netherlands!
It was in these circumstances that Pakistan sealed their semi-final spot with a surprise win in their last Super 12 round against Bangladesh. Earlier, South Africa had a chance to secure a semi-final, but crashed out of the T20 World Cup series against the Netherlands. As a result, India and Pakistan teams have qualified for the semi-finals by occupying the top two positions in Group 2 on the basis of the points table.
‘No one can stop us anymore’ – Haydn
In this case, former Australian player Mathew Hayden, the consultant of the Pakistan team, had a long conversation with the players. “From where we have come in this series, it is absolutely miraculous. If we do our best, anything is possible in T20 matches,” he said to give confidence to the players.
He further said, “Pakistan team is really a big threat to the opponents. Pakistan will be a threat to all three teams in the semi-finals. No team wants to face Pakistan in the current environment. Not even a team. They thought they had emptied the Pakistan team. But now nothing can be done about Pakistan. Mathew Hayden had sounded a note of caution to those who thought Pakistan could be eliminated after losing the first two matches.
Unreal Pakistan in the semi-final!
It was in this situation that the Pakistan team faced the New Zealand team in the first semi-final match held today. As befits the team, the New Zealand team, who came to bat first, lost 4 wickets, including 2 wickets off the bowling of Pakistan’s fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, and were bowled out for just 152 runs. Later Pakistan openers Mohammad Rizwan (57) and captain Babar Azam (53) showed their action by forming an alliance after a long time.
Although the New Zealand team looked strong in the series, the team bounced back in bowling, fielding and batting to become the first choice for the finals.
Pakistan gave a phoenix comeback!
In fact, the Pakistan team has given a better comeback than New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa, which were seen as strong teams in this T20 World Cup. At the same time, it is noteworthy that India won the trophies in 2007, Pakistan in 2009 and England in 2010.
Chance of India-Pakistan clash!
India will face England in the second semi-final tomorrow. If the Indian team wins this match, then India and Pakistan will face each other in the final on November 13. In 2007, when the T20 World Cup was launched, India and Pakistan played in the final.
If the India-Pakistan teams play the final, there will be more opposition among the fans. Both India and Pakistan teams are of equal strength. So, surely there will be no dearth of excitement if the final match is held between the two teams.