New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said losing the T20 World Cup semifinal was a “tough pill to swallow” but revealed that his side was not disciplined enough to challenge a far-superior Pakistan here on Wednesday.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said losing the T20 World Cup semifinal was a “tough pill to swallow” but revealed that his side was not disciplined enough to challenge a far-superior Pakistan here on Wednesday.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan delivered, scoring brisk fifties and putting on 105 off 76 balls to put Pakistan on top in a chase of 153.
“Very disappointing to not make Pakistan work a lot harder. They were outstanding. We were outplayed. It’s a tough pill for us to swallow. Babar (Azam) and (Mohammad) Rizwan put us under pressure,”
Williamson said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“We were put under pressure early. Pakistan bowled very nicely. We managed to wrestle back some momentum with an unbelievable knock from (Daryl) Mitchell. At the halfway stage we were feeling it was a competitive total. The wicket was a bit tough – used surface,”
Williamson said.
New Zealand didn’t have the momentum after losing their openers Finn Allen (4) and Devon Conway (21) early. Williamson (46) and Mitchell (53) then added 68 runs for the fourth wicket to take them to a decent total.
“If we’re honest, we wanted to be more disciplined in our areas. At the end of the day, Pakistan certainly deserves to be the winner. There’s been a lot of good cricket,”
the Kiwi captain said.
“Throughout the round-robin, we’ve played nicely. Today we weren’t at our best. Having, said that we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam lauded his bowlers for setting up the win.
“The way the team performed in the last three matches. Thanks to the crowd, feels like we are playing at home. We had a good start in the first six overs and later on we had a good spin attack. The fast bowlers also finished very well,”
said Babar, who scored a 42-ball 53.
“Our plan before going inside was to utilize the first six overs and later on everyone can come and chip in. We will enjoy this moment, but at the same time we will focus on the final.”
Rizwan who has been adjudged the Player of the Match for his 43-ball 57 said he and Babar never stopped believing, despite struggling to get runs in the group stages of the ongoing showpiece.
“Luckily, the fifty was in the semifinal. Babar and I were struggling but we worked hard and believed. We kept fighting. When we crossed the boundary line, we decided to take the attack to the new ball bowlers,”
he said.
“When we finished the power play, we knew one of us had to bat deep as it was a tricky pitch. Our start (to the tournament) wasn’t good, but the guys believed.”
Pakistan will now take on the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal between India and England in the final at Melbourne on Sunday.