By IANS
Cape Town, Sep 22 (IANS) Pakistan entered the final of the Twenty20 World Championship by defeating New Zealand by six wickets in the semi-final here Saturday.
Opting to bat first, New Zealand made 143 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Pakistan romped home safely with seven balls to spare as captain Shoaib Mallik pulled spinner Jeetan Patel for a huge six over the mid-wicket to score the winning runs at Newlands.
Imran Nazir was the top scorer for Pakistan with a blistering 59 from 41 deliveries. The right-handed batsman hit the Kiwi bowlers for five huge sixes and three fours.
Earlier in the day, an untimely rain-break disturbed New Zealand’s momentum and allowed Pakistan to regroup strongly. New Zealand slumped from 50 for no loss to a disappointing 143 for eight, with Umar Gul devastating the middle-order with figures of three for 15.
Gul was adjudged Man of the Match.
Pakistan’s bowling attack was accurate and disciplined and with the exception of the opening stand between Lou Vincent (28) and Brendon McCullum (26), none of the New Zealand batsmen looked comfortable against the Pakistani bowlers.
Ross Taylor was the top-scorer for the Kiwis with an unbeaten 37 off 23 deliveries. Taylor, however, was guilty of running out his captain Daniel Vettori and fast bowler Shane Bond.
Taylor made up for his mistakes in the final over, by hitting two fours and a six as Mohammed Asif failed to find the right length.
SCOREBOARD:
New Zealand vs. Pakistan, Twenty20 World Championship, Newlands, Cape Town
New Zealand:
Lou Vincent c & b Alam 28
Brendan McCullum lbw Afridi 26
Scott Styris c Tanvir b Gul 18
Peter Fulton c Malik b Gul 10
Ross Taylor not out 37
Craig McMillan c Younis b Alam 12
Jacob Oram c Akmal b Gul 1
Daniel Vettori run out 0
Shane Bond run out 5
Jeetan Patel not out 0
Extras (lb 1, w 3, nb 2) 6
Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 143
Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Vincent, 7.5 overs), 2-74 (McCullum, 10.3), 3-85 (Styris, 13.1), 4-87 (Fulton, 13.3), 5-104 (McMillan, 14.6), 6-106 (Oram, 15.6), 7-107 (Vettori, 16.2), 8-126 (Bond, 18.6)
Bowling:
Mohammad Asif 4-0-34-0
Sohail Tanvir 4-0-30-0 (2nb, 1w)
Shahid Afridi 4-0-24-1 (2w)
Fawad Alam 3-0-29-2
Umar Gul 4-0-15-3
Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-10-0
Pakistan:
Mohammad Hafeez lbw Styris 32
Imran Nazir lbw Patel 59
Younis Khan c McCullum b Vettori 4
Shoaib Malik not out 26
Shahid Afridi c Fulton b Bond 6
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 16
Extras (lb 2, w 2) 4
Total (for four wickets in 18.5 overs) 147
Fall of wickets: 1-60 (Hafeez, 7.1 overs), 2-96 (Nazir, 12.2), 3-104 (Younis, 13.3), 4-111 (Afridi, 14.3)
Bowling:
Shane Bond 4-0-33-1 (1w)
Mark Gillespie 3-0-30-0 (1w)
Daniel Vettori 4-0-22-1
Scott Styris 3-0-14-1
Jeetan Patel 3.5-0-31-1
Jacob Oram 1-0-15-0
Result: Pakistan won by six wickets
Toss: New Zealand (chose to bat)
Man of the match: Umar Gul (Pakistan)
Umpires: Daryl Harper and Simon Taufel (both Australia)
TV umpire: Ian Howell (South Africa)
Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa)