Australia will take on Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final, with the tournament’s final four officially locked in.
With one final match of the group stage – India versus Namibia – to come, New Zealand ensured Virat Kohli’s team would suffer a shock elimination from the tournament before the final four with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Afghanistan.
The Black Caps restricted Afghanistan, who had a legion of Indian fans cheering them on and looking for a win to keep their own semi-final hopes alive, to just 124 from their 20 overs, led by 3/17 from Player of the Match Trent Boult. They followed up with a nerveless performance with the bat, an unbeaten 40 from captain Kane Williamson and 36 from Devon Conway seeing them home with 11 balls to spare.
>> Check out the full T20 World Cup fixture
Remarkably, a New Zealand victory has now ended India’s hopes of a world cricket trophy in all three formats in the last two years. They famously stunned the powerhouse in the semi-finals of the 2019 ODI World Cup, while they also clinched the inaugural World Test Championship final by eight wickets in June of this year.
It’s the first time since 2012 that India have not made it to the semi-finals of a World Cup, in either the T20 or ODI formats, while it’s Australia’s first appearance at that stage since the same tournament.
Pakistan also became the only team to make it through the group stage undefeated, claiming top spot in Group B with a 72-run win over Associate nation Scotland. A six-hitting frenzy from Shoaib Malik, who blasted the Scottish bowlers into the stands half a dozen times en route to an 18-ball 54, saw the tournament favourites reach 4/189 from their 20 overs. Restricting Scotland to 117 in response, it sets up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Australia in Dubai.
Having proven their worth chasing in wins over India and New Zealand, Pakistan have now won two games in a row batting first – albeit against both Associate nations – which should give Babar Azam plenty of confidence in his team even if he loses the toss to Australian counterpart Aaron Finch.
The clash is a rematch of the 2010 T20 World Cup semi-final, in which Australia pulled off a miraculous three-wicket victory thanks to one of the finest innings in the format’s history from Michael Hussey. More than a decade on, three players – David Warner and Steve Smith for Australia, Mohammad Hafeez for Pakistan – will likely reprise their roles in their respective starting XIs.
The Aussies had already secured their place as runners-up in Group A with an eight-wicket win over the West Indies, their impressive net run rate enough to hold off South Africa, despite their impressive win over group leaders England. Eoin Morgan’s team needed just 87 runs to ensure their qualification, and were able to ensure top spot with a minimum of fuss; but falling 10 runs short of the Proteas’ 189 will give Morgan something to ponder after an all-conquering tournament up until then.
The two semi-finals will take place on Thursday and Friday morning (AEDT), while the final will take place on Monday, November 15 at 1am (AEDT) in Dubai.
T20 World Cup – Semi-finals
Thursday, November 11, 1am (AEDT) – England vs New Zealand in Abu Dhabi
Friday, November 12, 1am (AEDT) – Pakistan vs Australia in Dubai
FINAL: November 15, 1am (AEDT) – TBD vs TBD in Dubai
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
No criticism. I just thought it was strange that you thought Hussey and Marsh were weak in that area. The format problem is The Roar's not yours.
Ace
Roar Rookie
Well, it was in response to 13th MAN and I cannot help where my comment is inserted ..so you follow the thread
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Follow the thread. Impossible to see what the comment is a reply to.
Ace
Roar Rookie
not sure of what you are on but I was talking about Harris and Head
Chris Love
Guest
I can’t accept that Mitch Marsh could be picked over someone like Usman. Some T20 form should never overwrite shield form. Especially considering their test records are vastly different with Usman being superior. Marsh only ever scored on roads.
raj
Guest
It's really dumb to have two groups of six teams and then have only two teams qualify for the finals . You could have a team with 4 wins and one loss not make the finals ( like South Africa here ) while a team with two wins and three losses could make the finals ( when a group has one team with 5 wins zero losses and then five teams all with two wins and three losses ) What the alternative is depends on how many teams there are all up , how many games you want them to play minimum and maximum ,and total number of games in all But lets just say 12 teams and the simplest method Why not 3 groups of four with 3 game round robin ,then quarter finals , semi finals and a final . Same as rugby 7s at the Olympics by the way Remember cricket gave us a tie splitter on number of boundaries scored for the ODI World Cup . You could just as legitimately have given the Cup to the team which scored off the most balls -which would be the team with the fewer boundaries Conclusion :The ICC has some really dumb people deciding these things
Republican
Guest
......opposite experience to myself and i'm not alone in this regard, while the Kiwi diaspora here adds weight to this. I accept there are always exceptions to the rule but if I were to stereotype Nz'ers as they do us, unrelentingly, they hold mostly an irrational contempt for this nation masked by what we like to pass off as sibling rivalry. I believe it goes much deeper than that for Nz'ers while Canadians have a similar pious prejudice towards Americans.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I like a lot of the English players, but still hate seeing England win at anything.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I hold huge affection for NZ, awesome place, great friendly people. Copped far more as an Aussie in the UK.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Nope, highly disagree, for me England will always be our biggest rivals, in every sport. They are the old enemy. New Zealand are more the friendly neighbours who we like to beat, but really are quite happy to see them succeed if it can't be us. Got lots of Pommy and Kiwi mates, and always it's far more heated (still in a friendly way) with the Poms, it's taken more seriously.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
What is " not on wickets taken". Hard to know which post you are responding to.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Marsh and Hussey? You're joking. Two off the best off side players ever.
Tony
Roar Guru
"Big if" is a reference to the selectors
Ace
Roar Rookie
So , would you go with the same two who have perfected their dismissals slashing out side the off stump
Ace
Roar Rookie
Not on wickets taken
Ace
Roar Rookie
Two lefties who make a habit of not moving their feet outside the off stump Particularly under test pressure Thats why I suggested alternatives
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm not sure I'd call if a fascination, but I like an opener who values his wicket. In an ideal world, we'd have a bloke who can score quickly AND not get out, but Street's still learning the first bit. In the meanwhile, he sticks around, takes the shine off the ball and allows others to build a decent score. And right now, if Street can make the same as his first class average in each first innings of the Ashes (39), I'd happily take that every time.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Hope he does well Don we need some young talent openers strutting their talent & pushing for selection for the green & gold
Republican
Guest
.......related but very different for mine. An analogy could be Rugby v Touch. I consider Test Cricket the true form of the 'Brand'.
Republican
Guest
NZ are our main rivals is all sport including Cricket these days, since they are superior in all forms of the game. The days when we hardly considered matches v them are long gone.