A late assault from Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis saw Australia record a famous upset, defeating T20 World Cup favourites Pakistan with five wickets and an over to spare in the second semi-final in Dubai on Thursday. The Aaron Finch-led side will play New Zealand in the final on Sunday. 

Chasing 177, Wade and Stoinis scored 50 runs in the last four overs, including 22 in the 19th from Shaheen Shah Afridi, as Australia completed a second thrilling chase in two days – after a late Kiwi counter-attack ousted England on Wednesday. 

A key moment came early in the penultimate over as Wade lobbed Afridi towards the mid-wicket region. But an onrushing Hasan Ali dropped the catch and the Aussie wicketkeeper made the most of his second life, smoking three consecutive sixes off the next three deliveries to cap a fine comeback. 

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Afridi started with a fiery first over, conceding just one run while trapping skipper Aaron Finch with his signature in-swinger to get Pakistan off to the perfect start. 

David Warner then continued his scoring streak with a composed 49 from 30 deliveries and added 51 runs for the second wicket with Mitchell Marsh (28) before the latter became the first of Shadab Khan’s four victims. 

The wrist spinner dismissed Steve Smith (5), Warner and Glenn Maxwell (7) to leave the Aussies reeling at 95 for the loss of five from 12.2 overs. 

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Shadab’s return of 4/26 from four overs are the best figures for any bowler in a T20 World Cup semi-final. 

Stoinis and Wade then mounted a counter to keep Australia’s 100% record against Pakistan in ICC knockout games intact. 

Earlier, sent into bat, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman smashed quick fifties as Pakistan posted a challenging 176 for four. Opening the innings, Rizwan scored 67 off 52 balls during which he hit three boundaries and four sixes, while Zaman remained unbeaten on 55 off 32 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes.

Together with skipper Babar Azam (39), Rizwan shared 71 runs for the opening stand before stitching 72 runs with Zaman.