New Zealand skipper, Kane Williamson said on Tuesday that the BlackCaps will not be taking Pakistan’s fast-bowling attack lightly and the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 will be a hard-fought affair in Sydney. Despite contrasting campaigns in the Super 12 stages of the tournament, Pakistan and New Zealand will be facing each other in the semi-final, which promises to be a cracker of a contest between two high-qualify bowling line-ups.
Pakistan has reached the knockouts despite having had a woeful start to their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, stunned by Zimbabwe after their loss to India. On the other hand, New Zealand dominated a difficult group, finishing ahead of England and defending champions Australia, who were knocked out early from the tournament.
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Speaking to the press on the eve of their semi-final in Sydney, Kane Williamson talked up the quality and experience of the Pakistan side. As per the quotes in India Today, He said, “They’ve got an outstanding pace attack. As 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.”
Pakistan will be heading into the semi-final with confidence as they had managed to outclass New Zealand in the final of a tri-series that was played in New Zealand before the World Cup. On the other hand, New Zealand will rely on their experience of having been in high-pressure knockout scenarios in ICC matches in the recent past. The BlackCaps made it to the final of the T20 World Cup last year, won the World Test Championships final in 2021, and also played the 2019 World Cup final.
Speaking about New Zealand’s consistent run in ICC tournaments, Kane Williamson said, “You come to these tournaments, and as we’ve seen, all teams can beat each other and it’s definitely a pretty exciting event.”
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He further 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. And certainly, want to be doing that again tomorrow.”
