Finn Allen hit the first for four, the last time the Bluebirds had the advantage. He was given a pound after the second over and was adjudged successful, but when he again fell short in his third over, no criticism could save him – his was the first of two wickets for Shaheen Shah Afridi, who conceded just 24 from his four overs and looked worryingly close to his best for whoever of India or England wins Thursday’s second semi-final to qualify to face Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday. The final ball of the powerplay saw Devon Conway run out thanks to a direct hit by Santab Khan at mid-on, and Pakistan’s spinners proceeded to suck the life out of the New Zealand innings. Kane Williamson scored a pedestrian 46 from 42, with just two boundaries, and although Darryl Mitchell dragged his side to a vaguely defendable total of 152 for four with an unbeaten 53 from 35, they still looked well short of the par score. The bowler-heavy Black Caps side is designed to defend such totals, but a poor performance in the field – particularly from Conway behind the stumps, most notably when he dropped Babar Azam in the first over – ruined them. their chances. Both Pakistan openers went on to score half-centuries and by the time the first wicket fell, with the score at 105, they needed only fractionally more than a run a ball. As Tim Southee prepared to finish off the final over, Pakistan needed just two to win. His first ball was out, a moment that leveled the scores and summed up their night. Shan Masood hit a single off the next ball to end it. This was the 12th time New Zealand have reached the final four of a world tournament, but are yet to win one. “Credit to Pakistan, they were really good today and we weren’t at our best,” Williamson said. “Halfway we felt we had something to defend [but] Pakistan were excellent with the bat and they took it down with ease. We definitely wanted to make them work harder for those runs.” Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers’ thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s action Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
