Unpredictable Pakistan upset New Zealand applecart.
BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE
Pakistan lived upto their tag of unpredictability and confounded my predictions of a New Zealand T20 World Cup win with a fantastic allround display to forge their way into their first final in this format.
So dominant were the Pakistan attack spearheaded by a fired up Shaheen Shah Afridi, backed by disciplined fielding, against a New Zealand batting line-up that looked devastating at the outset, then fell apart, after England earlier unravelled them. The Kiwis showed they had no sign of a recovery plan, to be knocked out in total submission.
It followed the pattern of progress which suggested a New Zealand and possibly a India or England final. But now my second option appears inevitable.
India and Pakistan in a final of the T20 World Cup will rake in substantial financial gain through a sellout crowd at the MCG. And in many ways it seems a justified replay of a last encounter that ended controversially in the group stage where many believed the Pakistanis were robbed by debatable umpiring.
A Pakistan win in the final will be sweet revenge and level the scores after a claim of a questionable loss to their fierce Asian rivals.
New Zealand were never in the contest defending a gettable target mainly due to their normally impeccable fielding falling apart under pressure. Several dropped chances and some erratic bowling saw them bundled out in a now familiar scenario where they promis much initially then choke when it matters.
Dropping out of form Pakistan skipper Barbar Azam in the first over was literally Dropping the World Cup. Barbara went on to notch a match winning half century.
Today’s crucial contest between England and India will be as ferocious as the many interactions between two of the games heavyweights.
It will be a game decided by an Adelaide track that can assist both the batting and bowling. England appear to have a great variety in their bowling, but their batting will be tested against an equally balanced Indian attack.
India’s batting has been solid so far led by Skipper Rohit Sharma, K. L Rahul and with Virat Kohli, Suriyakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandiya in devastating form.
If England’s batting folds, so will their hopes of winning their second T20 World Cup.
The ICC will no doubt be banking on an all Asia final from a personal perspective.
