Pakistan beat New Zealand by seven wickets to be the first team to cement their place in the final of the T20 World Cup.
Many Twitter users trolled on field umpire Marais Erasmus for his poor onfield decisions. His first wrong decision was to give out Finn Allen in the second ball of the first over, bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi. However, Allen took a review straight away, which showed a clear inside edge. In the third ball, he again signaled out, but this time the review wasn’t overturned.
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Pakistan chased down the target with relative ease, due to the 100+ runs opening partnership between skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
After getting dropped on the first ball, Babar Azam utilised the lifeline that was extended to him. In the first two overs of the powerplay, Trent Boult and Tim Southee each allowed 15 runs.
Pakistan’s powerplay total was their highest of the competition with 55 runs scored and no wickets lost at the conclusion. Then, in 38 balls, Babar Azam scored his maiden fifty of the competition. The rate had almost reached run a ball by the time Pakistan lost its first wicket at 105, when Trent Boult sent back Babar Azam to the pavilion.
Azam and Rizwan had their third 100+ run partnership in the T20 WC, which was the most of any pairing. In the 14th over, Rizwan also promptly reached his half-century off 36 balls. In the 17th over, he was also out. Mohammad Harris struck successive sixes and fours in the 18th over to give the Men in Green the victory. Pakistan reached their first final in 13 years thanks to Shan Masood’s single in the second delivery of the last over.
