PAK vs NZ Emotional Rollercoaster: Batsmen dead ducks, Conway- the new Kirsten and Pak fielding gets crackling

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New Zealand’s Finn Allen walks from the field after he was dismissed during the T20 World Cup cricket semifinal between New Zealand and Pakan in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Marais Erasmus took eons to raise his finger on the second ball to signal the dismissal of Finn Allen. Bowler Shaheen Afridi and the men behind the stumps went up immediately but Erasmus stood unmoved. And just when it looked like their appeal, which bordered on pleading, would have no bearing on Erasmus, the umpire signalled out. Allen reviewed the decision instantly and the replays showed a thick inside edge and Erasmus had to reverse his call.
He redeemed himself, however, on the next ball. The second time around, he raised the dreaded finger almost immediately. Allen once again was quick to review but this time, he was plumb in front. Not just the players, the umpire too has been in thick of things right from the first over.
– Mihir Vasavda
Afridi, new ball, in swing – batsmen dead ducks
Pakan’s Shaheen Afridi celebrates the dismissal of New Zealand’s Finn Allen during the T20 World Cup cricket semifinal between New Zealand and Pakan in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Batsmen would have experienced this or seen it happening to others of their tribe but the one that comes back into the right hander from the very tall left-arm Pakani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is difficult to keep out. New Zealand’s x-factor at the top of the order Finn Allen was Afridi’s latest victim. And like a few before him, Allen didn’t get time to get his eye in (yes that concept still holds value in the shortest format against quality bowling). And before he knew it Afridi was bending it back beautifully. The first ball – a full swinging ball – was hit back for a four. Afridi didn’t get perturbed. The next was full and swinging but Allen got an inside edge and on review the umpire Murray Erasmus had to overturn his onfield decision. Maybe Allen got a false sense of security after just about putting ball to bat. Third ball, swing into him again and Allen tried to hit across the line. Umpire Erasmus got it right this time. Afridi raised his arms and looked skywards to celebrate the LBW. The script had gone his way in the early part of the innings, like it has so many times. His incoming ball to the right hander a batsman’s nightmare.
-Nihal Koshie
Conway – the new Kirsten
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Devon Conway is the new Gary Kirsten. In Tests , he can go all old school on us with his dour defensive play. In T20s he can fly off as he chooses. Like Kirsten, he has a method. Kirsten was one of the early openers who would walk out of the crease to clear the infield when he wanted the big shot. Conway has this ability to rush out to do the same. In between, the off drives flow.
– Sriram Veera
Kane’s royal rumble at sightscreen heels🤠😡👺😑🫤
Kane Williamson doesn’t get easily flustered but there he was at the World Cup semifinal, animatedly gesticulating his anger. In the 4th over, first there was some durbance of crowd movement from above the sightscreen. He halted play until couple of people sat down. He still didn’t look too happy, shook his head as he settled into his stance. Then imagine his shock next ball just as he was into his shot, two people walked right across the sightscreen. Williamson lost it. As in he flung his arms and gestured. Did it stop? Nope. Next ball, more movement, this time above sightscreen. Another shake of the head.
– Sriram Veera
Shaabash Shadab: Pak fielding gets crackling – Conway on his way
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Pakan’s Haris Rauf reacts as the bails fly as New Zealand’s Devon Conway is run out during the T20 World Cup cricket semifinal between New Zealand and Pakan in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Barring their slip catching when they get the right people in there, Pakan’s fielding has horically triggered amusement. They haven’t been great this tournament either, causing Wasim Akram to sigh in television studios. But this semifinal, thus far, they have been electric.
Shadab khan, a very good fielder, flung himself to his left at mid-on to prevent a superb on-drive from Williamson from running to boundary. Then one more dive came at short fine from Haris Rauf to save three runs There was even a direct hit from Naseem Shah from short fine leg to the non strikers’ end. Pakan had certainly turned up in some mood.
And then came the clincher. Shadab Khan nailed Conway with a direct hit from mid-on. He moved to his right, got a good bounce, and knocked down the stumps from an angle where he possibly could have just managed to see one stump.
– Sriram Veera
Phillips done in left arm spin ..again
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After spooning a catch back to Mohammad Nawaz, Glenn Phillips swung his bat in anguish. It might not have been just the frustration of getting out at a crucial stage of the match but the repetitiveness of left-arm spinners dismissing him. Of the 38 instances he has gotten out in T20Is, the left-arm spinner was his nemesis on five instances, that is once in nearly eight innings. Twice has Nawaz nailed him too. Phillips, though an exceptional player of off-spin and leg-spin, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana would testify, is susceptible to left-arm spin. On three of the five instances, he was foxed when looking to work them through leg-side. It’s usually a safe shot as most left-armers trade mostly arm-balls in this format. But the Nawaz one gripped the surface, held a bit in the air and spun away a smidgeon. Phillips, as he is prone to, was not upto the pitch of the ball and ended up flicking lazily. A tame return catch was the consequence.
– Sandip G
Kane train arrives, on time
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New Zealand’s Kane Williamson bats during the T20 World Cup cricket semifinal between New Zealand and Pakan in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
New Zealand’s journey to the semifinals had progressed without any notable contribution from their most pedigreed batsman – arguably the best the country has ever produced – skipper Kane Williamson. A persent elbow injury had drastically reduced his match appearances and when he did take the field, he seemed a shadow of the player in his pomp.
Scoring runs at a rate acceptable in T20s seemed such a tough task for the member of the so-called global ‘Fab Four’ that often opposition teams preferred to have him on strike to keep the run rate in check. It even prompted speculation whether Kane’s powers had diminished and he would be better advised to focus on the longer formats as his career winds down.
With Joe Root out of T20 reckoning for England and Steve Smith hardly getting a game for Australia in the format, was it the time for a change of guard?
But cometh the knockout game, and Kiwi fans were again left hoping that the great man would find some magic in his locker. Their dynamite opening pair and the dynamic Glenn Phillips were back in the dug-out before the total reached 50, with the run rate languishing around six an over.
But regardless of form and situation, Kane takes his time to settle in. He reached a run-a-ball 28 before launching a short ball from Mohammad Wasim over the long midwicket boundary for a maximum. It seemed Clark Kent had found his Superman garb just in time. Hope, and gratitude, sprung again in Kiwi hearts.
– Tushar Bhaduri
Not everyone is Surya, son
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New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell bats during the T20 World Cup cricket semifinal between New Zealand and Pakan in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Not everyone can be Suryakumar Yadav – Kane Williamson understood that the hard way even after his batting partner Daryl Mitchell had demonstrated that sweeping pacers isn’t easy. When Shaheen Shah Afridi started the 17th over, New Zealand were going at 7 runs per over and they had lost just three wickets. It was fine to take risks. Afridi bowled a full ball on the stumps, Mitchell went down on his knees and tried to guide it behind the stumps. The fine-leg was inside the 30-yards circle, he just needed to get a touch to get a boundary. He got an edge instead and the ball got stopped the keeper. They crossed over for a single. Now, Williamson tried the same to a similar Afridi ball. He failed miserably and was clean bowled. Surya has been on everyone’s mind in the WorldT20, but batsmen in the middle need to be wary. It’s not healthy to be this impressionable. Not everyone, like Surya, has played these strokes against his mates as a child during the rubber-ball street-cricket games. They might not even have spent hours before the World T20 perfecting these unconventional strokes.
– Sandeep Dwivedi