“Luckily, the fifty was in semi final”: Mohammad Rizwan delighted on hitting form at the right time after winning Man of the Match in T20 World Cup semi final vs New Zealand

Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets to book their tickets for the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the MCG. It was a class performance by the side, and Mohammad Rizwan was delighted over his personal achievements as well after winning the Man of the Match.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first, but they lost the wicket of Finn Allen on just the 3rd ball of the innings. Devon Conway and Kane Williamson tried to stitch a partnership, but both of them were very slow. Daryl Mitchell scored a half-century, in the end, to help New Zealand post a total of 152-4.

Pakistan got a perfect start when both of their star openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan added 105 runs for the first wicket. The rest of the match was a formality for the side, and they won the match easily.

Mohammad Rizwan delighted on hitting form at the right time

Mohammad Rizwan won the Man of the Match trophy for his half-century on a tricky pitch, and he was delighted over hitting the form at the right time. Both Rizwan and Babar are the backbone of Pakistan’s batting, and prior to this game, both of them did not score a single half-century in the tournament.

However, cometh the hour, both batters scored their respective half-century to earn an easy win for Pakistan in the semi-final. Rizwan said that he and Babar were constantly working hard and scoring a half-century in the semi-final helped the team.

“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,” Mohammad Rizwan said post-match.

Mohammad Rizwan’s crucial fifty in the semi-final against New Zealand earns him the @aramco POTM award 👏#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/WveMc69tx6

— ICC (@ICC) November 9, 2022

Rizwan said that after the powerplay overs, he and Babar decided that one of them will have to bat till the very end as the pitch was not that easy to bat on. Rizwan insists that the start of the tournament was not smooth for them, but they always kept believing and the results are in front of everyone.

“When we finished the powerplay, 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 kept believing,” Rizwan added.