New Zealand won the toss and opt to bat first. Shaheen Shah Afridi struck in the first over as he found Finn Allen (4 off 3) plumb in front of the stumps.
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While Devon Conway and Kane Williamson tried to rebuild the innings, a brilliant piece of fielding by Shadab Khan found Conway (21 off 20) short of his ground as he was runout in the final delivery of the powerplay.
Glenn Phillips (6 off 8) couldn’t continue the momentum he had in the league stages, and after 8 overs, New Zealand were reduced to 3/49. But a resilient partnership of 68 runs between Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell took the team’s total to 117.
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Then Shaheen Shah Afridi came back into the attack and broke this partnership as he got rid of Williamson (46 off 42) in the 17th over.
Mitchell (53* off 35) stood tall at one end and scored a good half-century helping the side crawl past the 150-run mark alongside Jimmy Neesham (16* off 12).
For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi (4-0-24-2) scalped a couple of wickets, while Mohammad Nawaz (2-0-12-1) picked a solitary wicket.
The duo of Babar and Rizwan which failed to live up to the expectations throughout the tournament glued a 105 runs partnership together at the need of the hour.
Mohammed Haris joined Rizwan after the skipper was out, trying to heave a biggie and get trapped at long on. The duo played the field well and tinkered the scoreboard with occasional boundaries.
New Zealand got a few wickets at the fag end but Mohammed Haris pumped the Pakistan side past the finishing line when things were turning out a bit tricky with 19 runs needed from the last 15 balls.Â
Pakistan eventually won the game by 7 wickets and made it to the final of the T20 World Cup
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