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NZ knock Pakistan (and India) out; secure first T20 World Cup semi spot in eight years

New Zealand 110 for 6 (Bates 28, Halliday 22, Sandhu 3-18) beat Pakistan 56 (Sana 21, Kerr 3-14, Carson 2-7) by 54 runs

India’s hopes briefly arose. New Zealand could perhaps feel a sense of déjà vu. Pakistan themselves threatened to do the unthinkable. Only for all of it to come crashing at the end of it all.

NZ knock Pakistan (and India) out; secure first T20 World Cup semi spot in eight years:

Only when Omaima Sohail was brought on for the final over of the powerplay, did there come a sign of what was to follow.

Pakistan drop catches, NZ drop scoring

Nida Dar’s first over, the fifth of the game, gave an indication of her fortunes for the day. Bates attempted a reverse lap on the second ball against Dar, only to deflect it to the wicketkeeper. But Muneeba Ali failed to hang on. That was the first of five dropped chances Pakistan missed off Dar’s bowling alone. In the sixth, Bates pulled Sohail straight to midwicket but Sandhu could not hold on. A ball before, Plimmer had survived a run-out chance.

Zealand’s score on 41, the former skewed a top edge off Sandhu towards cover, where Sana fumbled before hanging on. In Sandhu’s next over, Bates hit one down long-on’s throat. Sohail had grassed a tough caught and bowled chance when Amelia Kerr was on nought but manage to have her caught at the deep midwicket ropes cheaply.

Boundaries were hard to come by. Sophie Devine tried using her feet to counter spin but to no avail. She was also given a life when she was on 13. Pakistan dropped five catches in the last three overs. Despite that, New Zealand could hit only seven fours – the last two coming off Brooke Halliday’s bat – and were restricted to a total that seemed very gettable at the halfway mark. Sandhu finished with 3 for 18 while Dar, Iqbal and Sohail also picked up a wicket apiece.

Pakistan’s attacking ways play into NZ’s hands

Pakistan knew they had to hunt down the 101-run target inside 12 overs for a semi-final place. Their intentions were clear when they sent Aliya Riaz up to open the batting alongside Muneeba. It was only the second time that Riaz had walked out to open in a T20I, the first time since 2014. Her stay lasted only three balls as she miscued offspinner Carson to cover. Muneeba began solidly, first skipping down to loft Carson straight back and then pulling Lea Tahuhu

NZ knock Pakistan (and India) out; secure first T20 World Cup semi spot in eight years

Through deep backward square leg – aided by a misfield. But Tahuhu got one to seam in, past the inside edge, to make a mess of Muneeba’s stumps.

That was the start of a massive collapse from Pakistan. They lost five wickets inside the powerplay to be 28 for 5. A massively reworked batting order – that saw Dar bat at No. 7 – did not bear the desired result. Dar and Sana’s 24-run partnership for the sixth wicket was Pakistan’s best. But once their most experienced allrounder fell in the tenth over, Pakistan folded as quickly as New Zealand started. They lost their last five wickets for just four runs in 11.4 overs, the exact over mark by when they had to complete the chase to qualify.

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