Ish Sodhi and the Black Caps were outplayed by Pakistan. Photo / AP
The Black Caps’ wait for a World Cup will continue after they were comprehensively outplayed by Pakistan tonight.
Competing in their fifth straight semifinal at limited-overs tournaments and hoping to reach their fourth final in that span, New Zealand were instead humbled by seven wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Daryl Mitchell cracked an unbeaten half-century to help the Black Caps reach 152-4, but a 105-run opening stand from Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam set up their side to reach the target with five balls to spare.
As the margin of victory would suggest, Pakistan were superior in all three facets, having reached the knockout round only after the Netherlands stunned South Africa on Sunday.
The Black Caps might have preferred to play the Proteas given they had lost four of their previous five T20s against Pakistan, including last month’s tri-series final in Christchurch.
New Zealand had since set the pace at the World Cup, crushing the hosts and Sri Lanka at this venue during the group stage. But hoping to go one better than last year, when they lost the final to Australia, they had no answer for a Pakistan side who will now play India or England in Sunday’s showpiece.
The evening started well enough for the Blacks Caps - they won the toss and chose to bat, with five of the six group games at the SCG taken out by the team batting first. Then it all went wrong, starting in the opening over.
After Finn Allen smacked Shaheen Shah Afridi down the ground for four from the first ball, the 23-year-old was then given out lbw the next two deliveries in a row. Allen survived his first review courtesy of a huge inside edge but the second was unsuccessful, undone by a full inswinger.
Devon Conway collected a couple of fours from the second over but was evidently still battling for timing, as he and Kane Williamson proceeded to face three overs without a boundary.
The opener eventually ended that drought by coming down the wicket and blazing Haris Rauf to the cover fence, but then ran himself out while testing Shadab Khan at mid-off.
New Zealand ended the powerplay on 38-2 and worse was to come as Glenn Phillips - their most in-form batsman - also contributed to his own downfall, spooning a leading edge back to Mohammad Nawaz.
They crawled to 59-3 at the halfway mark with Williamson on 23 from 24 and yet to hit a boundary. But the Black Caps had been the strongest side in the tournament in the second 10 overs and they soon showed why.
That began and ended with Mitchell, who looked eager to repeat his heroics from last year’s semifinal. His unbeaten 72 against England came while opening the innings and today he showed his value closing one, breaking a 22-ball boundary drought while scoring 13 runs from the 11th over.
Williamson then ended his own dry spell in some style, hitting the first six of the innings with a glorious pull over midwicket to help his side reach 106-3 after 15 overs.
Pakistan had to that point been flawless in the field but Rauf blew a run-out chance when Mitchell was on 31 and the 31-year-old made him pay, soon reaching his third T20I half-century.
Williamson (46 off 42) saw his stumps rattled after being deceived by an Afridi slower ball but Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham (16 off 12) helped the Black Caps score 93 runs from the final 10.
Their total seemed a tad below par but, rather than show any signs of semifinal pressure, Pakistan quickly turned the chase into a procession.
Like earlier in the evening, the first over proved a precursor, with Rizwan beginning with a boundary before Conway put down Azam to begin the Black Caps’ worst fielding effort of the tournament.
That was the only early chance Pakistan would offer, taking a liking to a three-pronged pace attack that was struggling to find a consistent line.
An opening pair prone to slow starts instead raced to 55-0 at the end of the powerplay while hitting nine fours - one fewer than New Zealand managed throughout their innings.
The Black Caps finally turned to spin in the seventh over, but while Ish Sodhi tightened things up, neither he nor Mitchell Santner was able to save their side.
Pakistan were 87-0 at halfway and cruising toward their target, with Boult’s dismissals of Azam (53 off 42) and Rizwan (57 off 43) providing only minor speedbumps as the big-hitting Mohammad Haris finished things off.