The New Zealand cricket team’s journey at the 2022 T20 World Cup came to an end on Wednesday, November 8 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. They suffered a heavy defeat against Pakistan in the semi-finals of the tournament. The Kane Williamson-led team failed to defend 153 runs, handing Pakistan a seven wickets win. Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar took a subtle dig at New Zealand following the loss.
Batting first in the semi-final, New Zealand managed just 152 runs, despite losing only four wickets in 20 overs. Skipper Kane Williamson struggled to accelerate the innings and ended up scoring a fifty with a strike rate of 190.52. Daryl Mitchell played a fine knock to take New Zealand to the 150 mark. However, the total wasn’t enough, as Pakistan chased it down comfortably.
Following New Zealand’s loss, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar expressed his thoughts on the match. He expressed that New Zealand needs to take tough calls and drop underperforming players. The 73-year-old also took a dig at some of the New Zealand players, who are very active on social media. He opined that they score more runs on social media than on the field.
“New Zealand elected to bat first in an attempt to put runs on the board to put pressure on Pakistan. But how many runs, is also a big question. They will have to take tough calls. There are players who haven’t been scoring runs, yet they have cemented their places. I won’t name anyone. But there are a few New Zealand players who have a big following on Twitter. They score more runs on Twitter than on the field,” said Sunil Gavaskar to Aaj Tak as quoted by Sportskeeda.
Pakistan won both the powerplays: Sunil Gavaskar analyzes Pakistan’s semi-final win against New Zealand
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar further analyzed Pakistan’s win in the semi-final against New Zealand. He expressed that Pakistan won both the powerplays, which is important in a T20 match. Gavaskar also added that New Zealand’s lead pacers Trent Boult and Tim Southee couldn’t bag early wickets, which hampered their performance in the match. He said,
“It is very important to win the powerplay in a T20 match. Pakistan won both the powerplays against New Zealand. While chasing a score like 152, it is important not to lose a wicket in the first six overs, it does not matter even if you score around 40 runs.”
“New Zealand has pacers like Trent Boult and Tim Southee who can swing the ball. Had they bagged two wickets in the powerplay, Pakistan would have been under pressure. We must praise Babar and Rizwan for standing up when it mattered the most,” Gavaskar added.
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