“Man of semis”- Twitter reacts as Daryl Mitchell’s half-century takes the Kiwis to a defendable target despite a lethal Pakistani bowling attack
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Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson
It’s the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022, played on Wednesday [November 9], and Pakistan’s bowling attack restricted New Zealand to just 152/4 at the SCG in Sydney. Apart from Daryl Mitchell and a slow knock of Kane Williamson, the Kiwi batters played rather flat cricket.
New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first, but they did not have the desired start as they lost their opener Finn Allen (four off three balls) on the very first over off Shaheen Afridi, while Devon Conway departed by Shadab Khan’s run out on the last ball of the powerplay. Conway wanted to take a quick single, but Shadab collected the ball faster and aimed for the bullseye.
Despite the two wickets, the Kiwi batters at the crease- Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips tried to stabilize their innings till Mohammad Nawaz dismissed the latter by caught and bowled on the last ball of the eighth over. The first centurion of this World Cup could score just six runs from eight balls.
However, Williamson and Daryl Mitchell played careful knocks, Williamson yet again played slowly, occasionally smashing toward the boundary ropes. In the 17th over, Babar Azam handed the ball again to Shaheen to break the partnership, which had surpassed 50 runs, and he did.
Shaheen bowled on length on the leg; Williamson made some room and looked to paddle it away but missed the ball. The ball went through him to shatter the stumps.
Pakistan might have prepared to tackle Conway or Phillips, but in the semi-final, Mitchell came out to take a bit of trouble out of the Kiwis as he completed his half-century off 32 balls. He went on to score an unbeaten 53 off 35 balls with three fours and a six at a strike rate of 151.43 to take the Kiwis to a defendable total of 152/4 in 20 overs. Shaheen grabbed two wickets, and Nawaz scalped one.
Check how Twitter reacted to Daryl Mitchell’s innings
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Gouri Das
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