The 1st semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 will be played between New Zealand and Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney. It is safe to say that the Pakistani side will rely a lot on their pacers in this match, and Kane Williamson is aware of Pakistan’s strength.
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Pakistan’s ace pacer Shaheen Afridi made his return after a knee injury in the T20 World Cup, and he was certainly struggling in the first few matches. However, the pacer has turned it around in the last two matches and has scalped 7 wickets in them. He also won the Man of the Match in the last match.
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Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jr have also been at the forefront of Pakistan’s bowling, and it is clear that all four of them are going to be the key to Pakistan’s success in the upcoming match.
Kane Williamson aware of Pakistan’s pace attack ahead of NZ vs PAK
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson addressed the press ahead of the semi-final match against Pakistan. Williamson had a lot of praise for Pakistan’s pace attack and said that he is aware of their strength in the pace bowling department. He insists that Pakistan has played really good cricket in the tournament so far.
“They’ve got an outstanding pace attack. Like I mentioned, they’ve been playing really good cricket. They’ve got very experienced players on their side, who are match-winners. So, that’s a real strength for them,” Kane Williamson said.
New Zealand have not been able to win a World Cup, but their performances have always been great. They are one of the most consistent teams in the tournament, where they have played the finals of the last T20 World Cup in 2021 and the 50-over World Cup in 2019.
Kane Williamson on New Zealand’s consistency in World Cups
Williamson believes that all teams can beat each other in tournaments like these, and you cannot take anyone lightly. He said that it is important to be able to adjust to different conditions and oppositions in order to do well in tournaments like these and felt delighted with his team’s ability to do the same.
“You come to these tournaments, and as we’ve seen, all teams can beat each other and it’s definitely a pretty exciting event,” Williamson added.
“I guess you’re going through it trying to adjust to conditions as quickly as possible, make those changes to the different opposition and really go out and try and express yourselves. It’s been nice that we’ve been able to see that throughout this competition”
