DUBAI: Matthew Wade’s late blitz sealed Australia’s passage to the T20 World Cup final, which will be played against New Zealand on Thursday.
The Kangaroos defeated Pakistan by five wickets in their semi-final match.
Shadab Khan, a Pakistani leg-spinner, gave it his all against Australia, taking 4/26 [the greatest for a T20 World Cup semi-final] but it wasn’t enough.
Following the Shadab scare, Australia recovered as Stoinis and Matthew Wade formed a strong connection, striking Hassan Ali and Shaheen Afridi for sixes.
The right-handed batter, who seemed uneasy from the outset, sought to knock Shadab out of the park but was caught by Fakhar Zaman.
Earlier in the day, a clinical Shaheen Afridi put pressure on the Australians straight from the start, trapping skipper Aaron Finch lbw in the opening over.
Australia has been set a 177-run goal to win in order to qualify for the T20 World Cup final versus New Zealand.
When it came time for Pakistan to bat, left-handed batsman Fakhar Zaman offered the Men in Green a fighting chance in the T20 World Cup’s second semi-final on Thursday.
Pakistan gave Australia a target of 177 runs.
Australia struggled to keep Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik from scoring 200 runs in the T20 World Cup semi-final clash.
Pakistan faced its first disappointment in the first semi-final match against Australia after Adam Zampa dismissed Babar Azam, as the Men in Green resume to bat first against Australia.
Pakistani openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, early on, had established another 50-run partnership against Australia.
Pakistani openers were able to make boundaries against Australia’s fast bowlers and all-rounder Maxwell.
Mohammad Rizwan was dropped twice as he tried to hit the ball out of the park.
Australia chose to bowl first after winning the toss against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final.
Both teams are unmoved from their last matches.
After Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik were declared fit today to play the match against Australia, Pakistani team took a sigh of relief.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced, in an update, that a medical panel scrutinized their fitness and gave the green signal for their participation in the crucial encounter.
In all of the matches, various issues have been pointed out, some of them pertain to batting and others to bowling, according to Babar.
Fielding failures were also detected on occasion, he said. “It’s great that we’re attempting to resolve these difficulties,” he remarked.
Australia has won the 50-over World Cup five times, but has yet to win the T20 World Cup in six attempts.
Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan were pronounced fit to play after testing negative for coronavirus despite having a fever in the days leading up to the match.
Their experience playing on UAE pitches, according to Babar, will be beneficial.
“We’ll have to put runs on the board first and then defend it,” said Babar, who has 264 runs in the tournament, including four half-centuries.
“It’s a privilege to captain this bunch of guys, and we’re looking forward to some exciting cricket. We are familiar with the situations in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).”
Pakistan, the 2009 T20 World Cup champions, entered the competition with a winning streak of ten games in a row in the United Arab Emirates.
