Shahid Khan Afridi
SYDNEY: Pakistan has an edge over New Zealand defeating recently in Tri-Series at the home ground while rival New Zealand has so far unable to win such prestigious event in the world of cricket wherein both face each other in semi-final of the T20 World Cricket Cup-2022 scheduled to be played at Sydney Cricket today (Wednesday).
However, after Pakistan and New Zealand facing each other in Sydney, India and England will clash with each other in the second semi-final to be played at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Pakistan is going to compete against New Zealand in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 at Sydney. In the month of October, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by five wickets at their home ground in the final of the Tri-Nation Tournament at the City of Christchurch, New Zealand.
As said, Pakistan has an edge of defeating New Zealand in their home ground, fear will be in New Zealand’s mind and rank, but Pakistan’s performance in the current World Cup is not of the quality that Pakistan has shown in the last one year.
On the other hand, New Zealand’s performance in this World T20 Cup is world class. Thanks to which New Zealand has an upper age and it seems possible to reach the final for the second time in a row. In the final of the 2021 World T20 Cup, the New Zealand team lost to Australia by 8 wickets. The World Cup mistake will not be repeated and will try to give a tough response to the Pakistan team.
In the year 2021, Pakistan reached the semi-finals for the fifth time, but Pakistan’s dream was shattered by a five-wicket defeat at the hands of super-fit Australia. In the final, Australia won the World Cup by defeating New Zealand by 8 wickets.
In the history of the T20 World Cup, no team has been able to win this honor three times. West Indies have won this T20 World Cup twice as well as the One Day World Cup. In 2012 and 2015, West Indies won this World Cup in 2007, The 2009 Cup was won by Pakistan. England in 2010, Sri Lanka in 2014 and Australia in 2021 have won the T20 World Cup.
With victory over Bangladesh in Adelaide, Pakistan improved their own record by reaching the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup for the sixth time. The Green Shirts have previously qualified for the Final Four stage in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2021. Yes, in 2014 and 2016, the team was out of the tournament in the first stage, Sri Lanka, West Indies and India 4, 4 while Australia has played the semi-finals 3 times.
The honor of being the first team to play in the final will also be earned. Remember that the Green Shirts won the title for the first and last time under the leadership of Younis Khan in 2009, when Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the final played at the historic ground of Lords. Babar Azam has managed to register his name as the first Pakistani captain to reach the semi-finals twice in the T20 World Cup.
