The Black Caps hammered hosts and champions Australia of their event opener, had a match washed out and misplaced a high-quality contest to England earlier than reaching a fifth successive white-ball World Cup semi-final as group winners.

Pakistan’s journey began with a outstanding loss to India in entrance of 92,000 followers at Melbourne Cricket Ground which was adopted by an equally dramatic upset by the hands of Zimbabwe and a rain-disrupted win over South Africa.

They scraped into the final 4 by beating Bangladesh however solely after a shocking upset of South Africa by the Dutch within the closing spherical of group matches had cleared the trail.

Team 🇵🇰 arrives in Sydney ✅🛬#WeHaveWeWill | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/LjIu1Hy1Mv

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 7, 2022

You get the impression, nevertheless, that that’s just about the way in which Pakistan prefer it.

“Shadab (Khan) actually said something very significant in the dugout the other day, he said: ‘Welcome to Pakistan cricket’,” crew mentor Matthew Hayden mentioned on Tuesday.

“Meaning that on any given day, anything can happen. When Netherlands beat South Africa, it was a significant moment for us in the tournament and as a result of that, I feel that there was very much an uplifting of tempo in our group.”

If Pakistan can be seeking to journey the momentum of their nice escape from the group, New Zealand can be counting on a tried and examined philosophy as they search to achieve the ultimate in opposition to India or England.

“We’re just focusing on one game at a time as we have done throughout this tournament,” mentioned captain Kane Williamson.

“And now we’re in a semi-final, which is a nice place to be, but it’s about cricket and the type of cricket we want to commit to and keep playing and that will be our focus.”

Final coaching on the @scg forward of tomorrow’s @T20WorldCup semi-final in opposition to @TheRealPCB. #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/eCkEtvHbxa

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 8, 2022

Blue skies are forecast for the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday for what may very well be an intriguing distinction between two well-balanced groups boasting some fantastic tempo bowling.

For some, the match has echoes of the 1992 50-overs World Cup in Australia, the place Pakistan scraped into the final 4 earlier than beating event favourites New Zealand within the semis and England within the closing.

Williamson was reluctant to ascribe to certainly one of Pakistan’s best hours in white ball cricket — additionally they gained the T20 World Cup in 2009 — as being any kind of precedent.

“I was two,” he deadpanned. “There’s also a rich cricketing history in New Zealand. A number of great moments.”