Pakistan beat New Zealand by seven wickets to reach T20 World Cup final – live

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Babar Azam pays tribute to the crowd. “We are feeling like we’re playing at home!” he says. “Everyone is coming and cheering for Pakistan team.” He gives the rest of the credit to his bowlers: “We had a good start with the ball, we have good spinners with Shadab and Nawaz bowling very well, and the fast bowlers finished very well.” Modesty forbids him to dwell on his own return to form, just when it was most needed.

Kane Williamson, as ever, is generous in defeat. “We were outplayed,” he says. “Pakistan bowled really nicely, we managed to wrestle back a little bit of momentum, at half-way we felt that was a competitive total. Very disappointing to not make Pakistan work a lot harder… They certainly deserve their win.”

Updated at 06.49 EST

Pakistan produced a superb all-round performance. The bowlers allowed New Zealand only 12 boundaries (ten fours, two sixes), with Shaheen Shah Afridi again proving to be the leader of the pack with 2-24. The other bowlers took only one wicket between them but they all kept it tight, with nobody going for more than 8.25 an over. The fielding was sharper than usual. And then Babar and Rizwan, the captain and his mate, suddenly remembered that they are the best international opening pair in the world. They put on 105 and turned a run chase into a cruise. Mohammad Haris, Pakistan’s latest wonder-kid, applied the finishing touches with a nerveless 30.

Updated at 06.43 EST

So New Zealand, the team of the first fortnight of the tournament, are heading home. When Pakistan’s openers found their form, the Kiwis had no plan B. Trent Boult was good, taking 2-33, but the other four bowlers managed only 1-113. The fielding was faulty for once and the captain, Kane Williamson, was too set in his ways, risking neither a sixth bowler nor a Test-match field. It’s especially cruel for Daryl Mitchell, whose record in T20 World Cup semi-finals is unbelievable: 72 not out against England last year, 53 not out today. And that sixth bowler might well have been him.

Pakistan reach the final!

20th over, first ball: Pakistan 153-3 (Shan Masood 3, Iftikhar Ahmed 0) Southee to bowl the final over. He starts with a wide! Oh dear. The next ball is at least on target, but Masood has no trouble pushing it for a single. Pakistan have won by seven wickets, with five balls to spare, to reach their first T20 final since 2009. The crowd are roaring, and so are the cornered tigers.

Wicket! Haris c Allen b Santner 30 (Pakistan 151-3)

19th over: Pakistan 151-3 (Shan Masood 2) One last over of spin. Santner, bowling to the left-handed Masood, finds some sharp turn – but it misses everything and dribbles away for three byes! Cruel stuff. With two needed, Haris goes for glory and top-edges to short fine leg, but he has done his job. Pakistan need two off six balls.

Updated at 06.25 EST

18th over: Pakistan 145-2 (Mohammad Haris 28, Shan Masood 1) It’s Lockie Ferguson, and he starts well, but then Mohammad Haris simply takes over. He’s 21, playing in his fourth T20 international, and he’s got sang-froid to die for. Staying deep in the crease, he hammers an off-drive for four. Then he chooses the perfect moment to hit the first six of the innings, hooking hard, high and handsome. Pakistan need only eight now off 12 balls: not even they can blow it from here.

Wicket! Rizwan c Phillips b Boult 57 (Pakistan 132-2)

17th over: Pakistan 132-2 (Mohammad Haris 17) A fine, fighting over from Trent Boult brings a wicket, after some confusion. Rizwan slapped a high full-toss to Phillips, who caught it easily, realised it might be a no-ball, threw to the non-striker’s end and got a run-out just to be sure. But it wasn’t reckoned to be above waist height, rightly, because Rizwan had gone down the track. End of an excellent innings, but now New Zealand have a faint sniff. Pakistan need 21 off the last 18 balls.

Updated at 06.17 EST

16th over: Pakistan 127-1 (Rizwan 55, Mohammad Haris 15) And now Santner drops a catch! Williamson belatedly posted a catcher, at gully, for Southee. Haris went for the cut and Santner couldn’t hold on. It was a tough chance, and it was probably New Zealand’s last chance. Pakistan need 26 off 24.

Updated at 06.10 EST

15th over: Pakistan 122-1 (Rizwan 54, Mohammad Haris 11) Santner and Sodhi have been so incisive in this World Cup, but the force is not with them tonight. Every ball in this over goes for something, Rizwan plays a sweep for three and the spin twins have 0-49 between them off seven overs. Pakistan need only 31 off the last 30 balls.

Updated at 06.05 EST

Fifty to Rizwan!

14th over: Pakistan 113-1 (Rizwan 50, Mohammad Haris 6) Bodhi bowls his final over and Rizwan helps himself to a single to reach a well-judged fifty off 36 balls. He tucked into Tim Southee early on, then let Babar take over at the buffet. The scoreboard flashes up the attendance: 36,443 (more than you ever get at a game in England, where the grounds are smaller). And about 25,000 of them are having a ball because they’re wearing green, like the pavilion roof.

13th over: Pakistan 109-1 (Rizwan 48, Mohammad Haris 4) Interesting decision here, probably made by Matthew Hayden in Babar’s absence: the new batter is Mohammad Haris, a fast starter, rather than an accumulator like Shan Masood. Haydos is a middle-aged man in a hurry. Haris duly whacks his second ball for four, marring a fine over from Trent Boult, who was brought back to take a wicket and did so.

Wicket! Babar c Mitchell b Boult 53 (Pakistan 105-1)

At last! Babar succumbs to the adrenaline and plays a big hit when he didn’t need to, making it easy for Mitchell at long-on. But he has done a fine job here, and it will be enough unless Pakistan produce one of the all-time great chokes.

Hundred partnership!

12th over: Pakistan 102-0 (Rizwan 46, Babar 52) Pakistan can just about get ’em in singles now and one from Rizwan, pushed down the ground off Sodhi, brings up the hundred partnership. These two have been immense. Cometh the hour, cometh the pair of them.

Fifty to Babar!

11th over: Pakistan 97-0 (Rizwan 43, Babar 50) Back comes Lockie Ferguson as Williamson acknowledges that spin hasn’t worked for once. But he doesn’t post the slip cordon that is surely his only way out of this now. Babar pulls for four, then adds a flick for two to reach fifty from only 36 balls, beating Rizwan to it. Before this game Babar had only 39 in the whole tournament, off 63 balls. And he was dropped first ball tonight.

Updated at 05.47 EST

10th over: Pakistan 87-0 (Rizwan 41, Babar 43) Just when they can’t afford one more bad over, the Kiwis have one. Sodhi floats one ball up outside leg, so Rizwan plays a paddle for four. He drops another short outside off, so Babar threads a cut through the covers. That is Pakistan’s 11th four, one more than New Zealand managed in twice as many overs. At the halfway stage, this has become an awful mismatch. Pakistan need only 66.

9th over: Pakistan 75-0 (Rizwan 37, Babar 35) A decent over from Santner too, seven off it. But being decent won’t do for NZ. Pakistan need just 78 now and they have 11 overs – and ten wickets – to play with. Game off!

8th over: Pakistan 68-0 (Rizwan 32, Babar 33) Ish Sodhi joins his spin twin and bowls the best over for some time, going for just five. But Babar already has his highest score of the tournament, and he can afford to cruise because Rizwan (who has faced six balls fewer) is leading the charge. Kane Williamson is going to have to turn into Steve Waugh and set Test-match fields. Three men round the bat!

Updated at 05.32 EST

7th over: Pakistan 63-0 (Rizwan 30, Babar 30) Only one thing can save New Zealand now: spin. And it very nearly makes the breakthrough as Mitchell Santner appeals for LBW against Babar, Williamson reviews … and it would be plumb if it wasn’t going over the stumps. In Australia, even a low-and-slow wicket can have a trampoline hidden inside it.

Pakistan rule the powerplay

6th over: Pakistan 55-0 (Rizwan 28, Babar 25) Even the false shots are going for four now: Babar top-edges Ferguson, way over the keeper, and off it goes, trickling to the Toblerone. New Zealand hit only ten fours in their whole innings, and Pakistan have nine already. The powerplay ends with the best T20 opening pair (before this tournament) right back in business.

5th over: Pakistan 47-0 (Rizwan 27, Babar 19) Southee changes ends and Rizwan decides to target him. He moves over to off stump and plays a crunching on-drive for four, like Viv Richards on speed. He likes it so much, he does it again next ball. Babar joins in the fun by flicking for four more. Fifteen off the over, again. Williamson has used only five bowlers in the whole tournament, so if Pakistan can hit one of them out of the attack, they should win the match.

4th over: Pakistan 32-0 (Rizwan 18, Babar 14) Babar is getting into the groove now. Facing Lockie Ferguson, he starts with a classy off-drive, then uses the extra pace to dab through the vacant slips. Slip is a run-saving position! That’s 21 off eight balls, but Ferguson puts the plug in, conceding only two off the last four.

3rd over: Pakistan 24-0 (Rizwan 17, Babar 7) Boult, artisan that he is, can be expensive and both batters tuck into this over. Babar plays his best shot for several weeks, a flashing cover force for four. Rizwan, sensing the moment, piles in with a glance for four and a cut for four more. Fifteen off the over!

2nd over: Pakistan 9-0 (Rizwan 7, Babar 2) The Kiwis need a strong start from their senior seamers and they get it from Tim Southee, whose first over goes for just two singles. The algorithms are giving Pakistan a 65pc chance of a win, which seems about right, although chasing has been unexpectedly tricky in this tournament.

1st over: Pakistan 7-0 (Rizwan 6, Babar 1) It’s Trent Boult to get the Pakistan innings under way, and just like New Zealand’s, it begins with a bang. Mohammad Rizwan cuts the first ball for four. Boult bounces back, inducing a nick from Babar Azam – but it’s dropped by Devon Conway, who has to change direction behind the stumps. Kane Williamson reacts with nothing more than a sly smile. Babar has been in such bad form that the plan may be to keep him there.

Pakistan’s Captain Babar Azam is dropped by Devon Conway. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 05.17 EST

NZ finish on 152

20th over: New Zealand 152-4 (Mitchell 53, Neesham 16) Naseem Shah bowls the last over and again, it’s all ones and twos. Only eight off it. Pakistan must now be firm favourites, especially with the pitch (low and slow) making them feel at home. Shaheed Shah Afridi was superb, taking 2-24 off his four overs. Kane Williamson was characteristically cool and calm, possibly too much so. But let’s hear it for Daryl Mitchell, who has now appeared in two T20 World Cup semi-finals and proved impregnable: 72 not out to win last year’s semi against England, and 53 not out to make a game of this one against Pakistan. His temperament is made of teak.

New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham plays a shot. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 05.08 EST

Fifty to Mitchell!

19th over: New Zealand 144-4 (Mitchell 50, Neesham 14) Haris Rauf comes back for his final over. NZ are getting something off every ball, if only a leg-bye, but they’re still not threatening any kind of carnage. Neesham does manage to flick a yorker for four, and Mitchell fends off a high full-toss to scamper two and reach a fine fifty, off only 32 balls. He’s been head-and-shoulders above the batters who come in before him.

Updated at 04.43 EST

18th over: New Zealand 133-4 (Mitchell 46, Neesham 8) As Naseem Shah comes back, Mitchell spots his slower ball and lofts it over extra-cover for four. But, not for the first time this evening, the bowler recovers well and there’s no second boundary in the over.

Updated at 04.43 EST

17th over: New Zealand 123-4 (Mitchell 38, Neesham 6) Here’s Jimmy Neesham, a man who did not deserve to be on the losing side in the 2019 World Cup final. Can he reach another one? He takes one ball to play himself in, then works Shaheen’s yorkers around for two, two, two. NZ need another 20 from him, and the same from Mitchell. The goods news is that, for the first time tonight, they have hitters at both ends.

Updated at 04.43 EST

Wicket! Williamson b Shaheen Shah Afridi 46 (NZ 117-4)

The breakthrough! One big gun removes another as Williamson walks across to the off side and Shaheen’s slower ball thuds into leg stump.

16th over: New Zealand 116-3 (Williamson 46, Mitchell 38) Pakistan’s fielding, so often a talking point, has been sharp tonight – but now it’s wobbling. They miss a run-out when it would have been much easier to pull it off, and then Babar himself is slow to run back from mid-off, so he fails to catch Mitchell off Haris Rauf. He may well regret that.

Updated at 04.28 EST

15th over: New Zealand 106-3 (Williamson 43, Mitchell 31) Back comes Shaheen Shah Afridi, the leader of the pack, looking for reverse swing. He starts with two dots to Williamson, who retorts with a whipped four to long leg. That’s his first four! Incredible but true. The PA plays a burst of Crowded House, always take the weather with you. If Neil Finn played cricket, he’d play like Kane Williamson.

14th over: New Zealand 99-3 (Williamson 37, Mitchell 30) Shadab returns, the batters take four singles, one of the commentators says “You can feel something’s about to happen,” and it does – Mitchell brings out the shimmy again and straight-drives for six. That brings up the fifty partnership, 51 off 35 balls. But even with those two sixes, the last two overs have only gone for nine apiece, and it feels as if Pakistan are still in the driving seat.

13th over: New Zealand 90-3 (Williamson 36, Mitchell 22) After being there for 11 and a half overs, Kane Williamson hadn’t managed a single boundary (28 runs off 28 balls). He has now: Mohammad Wasim returns and his first delivery is swatted for six. Is it a pull? Is it a whip? It’s definitely a great shot, though it does make you wonder why Williamson waited so long before attempting anything like it.

12th over: New Zealand 81-3 (Williamson 28, Mitchell 21) Babar, given something to think about at last, goes back to pace and brings on Naseem Shah. NZ go back to getting ’em in ones and twos. The cameras give us some views of the SCG, those bright-green roofs glinting below a grey-blue sky. Of all the cricket grounds in all the world, this is the one where I would choose to watch my last game.

11th over: New Zealand 73-3 (Williamson 24, Mitchell 18) Mitchell is dancing round his crease, itching to go big. He cuts Shadab, uppishly, and somehow squeezes the ball between the two men at backward point. A much-needed four. And then another, as Mitchell waits till the last second before dashing down the track and playing a lofted straight drive. That’s 14 off the over. Reports of NZ’s demise may have been exaggerated.

Updated at 03.59 EST

10th over: New Zealand 59-3 (Williamson 23, Mitchell 5) Williamson is working it around, classy as ever, but he’s not worrying Pakistan. Nawaz’s second over is all singles until Daryl Mitchell goes down the track and manufactures a two. At the halfway stage, NZ are heading for 150 rather than 200, and Pakistan are heading for the final.

9th over: New Zealand 52-3 (Williamson 20, Mitchell 1) Plus, Pakistan keep taking wickets off the last ball of the over, which means they can whizz through the next one while the new batter plays himself in. This over from Shadab goes for just three singles, and NZ are in a spin: three overs of the slow stuff, 14 runs, one wicket.

8th over: New Zealand 49-3 (Williamson 18) So it’s spin at both ends, as so often in Sydney, and both spinners have already taken a wicket. Pakistan on top.

Wicket!! Phillips c&b Nawaz 6 (NZ 49-3)

The big one! Phillips tries to whip Nawaz’s slow left-arm to leg, but gets a thick leading edge and gives the bowler a Christmas gift of a catch.

Updated at 03.55 EST

7th over: New Zealand 44-2 (Williamson 14, Phillips 5) No sooner has Shadab pulled off that run-out than he has to come on to bowl his leg-breaks. No rest for the gifted. He keeps it tight apart from a googly that’s too short, allowing Phillips to late-cut for four.

6th over: New Zealand 38-2 (Williamson 13) So the powerplay ends with Pakistan ahead on points, but NZ avoiding the third wicket that so often spells doom. Shaun Pollock feels that the ball is keeping low, and a graphic backs him up – the average bounce has been about one ball diameter lower than in the other five games at the SCG, which may mean that 180 is a good score.

Updated at 03.42 EST

Wicket! Conway run out (Shadab) 21 (NZ 38-2)

Conway, seeing the need to go big, charges Rauf’s first ball and chips it for four, inside-out. Shot! But soon there’s a direct hit and the Pakistan players begin to celebrate … They’re right! The dangerous Conway dismissed by the dead-eye Shadab, proving Mel Jones’s point.

Updated at 03.36 EST

5th over: New Zealand 30-1 (Conway 14, Williamson 12) Another change as Afridi gives way to Mohammad Wasim. Some of the sense of theatre goes with Afridi, but Pakistan will still be happy enough. Five singles and a two: it’s as if the middle overs have started already.

4th over: New Zealand 23-1 (Conway 11, Williamson 8) The first bowling change from Babar Azam as Haris Rauf replaces Naseem Shah. Rauf has Conway’s number – he’s dismissed him four times for only 29 runs. Williamson, perhaps aware of this, takes more of the strike, which makes for a quiet over. The highlight is a straight push, more of a caress, for two – would have been four but for a good half-stop at mid-on. Mel Jones, on the boundary, says she feels the game could be decided by the fielding. She’s such a good commentator, confident and engaging.

3rd over: New Zealand 19-1 (Conway 10, Williamson 5) Afridi to Williamson: feels like a big moment. Williamson, usually so serene, plays a loose uppish drive, but it’s into the gap at extra cover and he picks up three. A couple of dots, then a couple of singles. Pakistan have bowled so well, yet it’s still been a run a ball. NZ need to get through the next three overs with only one more wicket, to set the stage for Glenn Phillips.

2nd over: New Zealand 14-1 (Conway 9, Williamson 1) At the other end, Naseem Shah starts strongly – line and length, dot dot dot. Conway whips one away for four, then comes very close to playing on as his back-foot dab flirts with the stumps. Then another four! It’s all happening.

“No idea how the match will go,” says Alistair Connor, “but I’m backing our twirlers (I’m from NZ).” They’ve been so impressive. “My daughter went to work in /emigrated to (time will tell) Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. She is French but has lived in Scotland for the last six years. I suggested she should follow the creekit, as a factor of integration. She asked me for bullet points / conversation starters.” Brave woman. “My suggestion to her was, if she is presenting herself as a New Zealander, she’d best avoid the subject completely. If she’s being French, she can just let them explain it all to her. But her boyfriend’s mum is from County Down, so I suggested they should be Ireland fans.” Choices, choices. I’m hoping she lets them explain it all to her, then hits them with a killer stat.

1st over: New Zealand 6-1 (Conway 1, Williamson 1) So this over went four, wicket overturned, wicket … what we need now is a single or two. Kane Williamson and Devon Conway provide them, and then, finally, there is a plain old dot. What a start: instant drama.

Wicket! Allen LBW b Shaheen Shah Afridi 4 (NZ 4-1)

The first ball of the match is straight-driven for four by Finn Allen! But Afridi bites back with the second, a classic inswinger, and Marais Erasmus raises the finger. Reviewed and reprieved! There was an inside edge. Next ball, same again! No inside edge… It’s plumb!

Updated at 03.08 EST

“Kia ora Tim,” says Graeme Simpson, “from a very nervous Aotearoa/New Zealand. Was on Eden Park with the lads after the 1992 semi as part of directing a doco on Marty Crowe.” Wow.

“His brother, Jeff, was the interviewer, hence, Crowe on Crowe. (Including a question about the rumours about Martin’s personal life.) Some hard men in tears that afternoon. However, Martin held his composure, waved to the crowd, freeze frame, fade to black with Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms and credits. We’d only started in Christchurch earlier in the week where NZ badly lost their last pool game to the Pakistanis. TVNZ had scheduled the doco for the following Tuesday, so, no sleep for the next 48 hours… RiP Marty.” Absolutely. A shame he didn’t live to see NZ make a habit of reaching finals.

Time for the anthems, and some body language. The Pakistan team sing theirs with belief, hand on heart. In the crowd, the cameras find hijabs and green wigs and broad smiles. The Kiwis sing theirs with belief too, stern-faced, arm in arm. The cameras don’t spot so many of their supporters.

Pitch: not looking its best

The pitch looks not so much worn as knackered. Shaun Pollock, out there as a pundit, says: “It’s jigsaw-puzzley, if you want to put it that way.” Polly, it’s you who wants to put it that way. And I’m struggling to see what you mean. Possibly this: the pitch is in pieces, and the players will have to put it together themselves.

Teams: both unchanged

Ch-ch-ch-changes? No thanks.

NZ 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway (wkt), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult.

Pakistan 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Mohammad Haris, 4 Shan Masood, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Mohammad Nawaz, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Wasim, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Updated at 02.45 EST

NZ win toss and bat

Captains used to chase, but this tournament has changed all that. Babar Azam calls heads, it’s tails, and Kane Williamson has no hesitation in saying ‘“we’ll have a bat”. There have been six games at the SCG, and five have been won by runs not wickets, including both of New Zealand’s wins here.

Preamble

Hello everyone and welcome to the first semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup. In five hours’ time, either New Zealand or Pakistan will have booked their place in the final. On form in this tournament, it should be New Zealand – but on past form in knock-outs between these sides, they don’t stand a chance.

NZ will lose because … (a) they’ve had three meetings with Pakistan in situations like this and lost the lot. (b) NZ, historically, are simply not as good at T20 as Pakistan, who lead them by 17 wins to 11, some way from the parity you might expect. (c) After their sorry start and sudden revival, it feels as if Pakistan are getting out their favourite moves again, the dance of the cornered tigers, 30 years on from the original.

Pakistan will lose because … (a) those three previous knock-out games against NZ are distant history, the most recent being 15 years ago, which, in T20 terms, is basically Victorian times. (b) Babar Azam, usually so serene, has been having a nightmare, making scores of 0, 4, 4, 6 and 25, and not even making them fast – those 39 runs have come off 63 balls, making you wonder if he is now a Sunil Gavaskar tribute act. (c) The match is in Sydney, where the ball turns, and NZ have two of the top seven spinners in the tournament in Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi – two of the top five if you go by performances at the SCG, where NZ have played twice and won twice, marmalising Australia and Sri Lanka.

In other words, as usual, there’s no way of telling who will win. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the duel between two entertaining teams, with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace and chutzpah coming up against Glenn Phillips’s penchant for sixes.

The forecast, by Australia’s rather soggy recent standards, is encouraging. Play starts at 7pm Sydney time, 8am in the UK, and I’ll be back 25 minutes before that with the toss and the teams.

Updated at 02.39 EST

Tim will be here shortly. While you wait, here’s Simon Burnton on Pakistan’s wild ride to the semi-finals.

The first semi-final of the T20 World Cup throws together two teams whose experience of the competition so far could not have been more different. Where New Zealand’s thumping victory over Australia in their opening game put them instantly in control of their group, Pakistan’s presence in the final four, having lost their first two games to India and Zimbabwe, feels like a minor miracle.

For the batter Shan Masood even playing in those games was extraordinary, given that during a net session before the first he was hit full on in the head by a vicious shot from Mohammad Nawaz.

“I took my helmet off, and I was walking across the nets to get some water, and then I heard someone saying, ‘Watch out!’ And before I could do anything I felt something hit my ear,” he says. “I went down, and my first thoughts were, it’s hit me really hard. I thought at least it would be a fracture or something. I was taken to hospital, but when the scan came out it was just bruising.

“Next day I was not allowed to partake in practice, but I passed every single concussion test, I was good to go. I did not have any practice before the game but I tried to reframe it. I said, ‘look, anything could have happened. I could have been in hospital. I could have been back home. But I’m actually here and I’m playing, so savour the occasion, make the most of it.’”