T20 World Cup 2022: We were outplayed, Babar and Rizwan put us under pressure – Kane Williamson

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson admitted they were outplayed by Pakistan in the first semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 after they lost by seven wickets at the SCG, Sydney on Wednesday. Williamson feels the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were able to put them under immense pressure.

The Blackcaps could only manage a subdued score of 152 runs on the board after Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first. Pakistan was switched on with the ball and also in the field to keep the Kiwis’ batters at bay.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers as he scalped two wickets and conceded 24 runs in his quota of overs. Afridi accounted for Finn Allen and Kane Williamson.

On the other hand, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who both had so far failed to deliver for Pakistan in the T20I showpiece, stitched a match-winning opening alliance of 105 runs. The Pakistan captain scored 53 runs before getting dismissed while Rizwan went on score a fine knock of 57 runs.

Mohammad Haris also scored a crucial knock of 30 runs off 26 balls and scored a four and a six when 19 runs were needed off the final 15 balls.

Kane Williamson said in the post-match presentation, “We were put under pressure early. Pakistan bowled very nicely. We managed to wrestle back some momentum with an unbelievable knock from Mitchell. At the halfway stage we were feeling it was a competitive total. The wicket was a bit tough – used surface. Very disappointing to not make Pakistan work a lot harder.”

He continued, “They were outstanding. We were outplayed. It’s a tough pill for us to swallow. Babar and Rizwan put us under pressure. If we’re honest, we wanted to be more disciplined in our areas. At the end of the day, Pakistan certainly deserves to be the winner. There’s been a lot of good cricket. Throughout the round-robin, we played nicely. Today we weren’t at our best. Having said that, we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket.”

New Zealand had a good run in the Super 12 stage but they weren’t at their absolute best in the big semi-final against Pakistan and thus couldn’t break their losing streak against the Men in Green in knockout matches of the major ICC events.