Overview
New Zealand enters the semifinals of Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. New Zealand won easily against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. Chasing a target of 111 runs, Pakistan struggled and ended up all out for just 56 runs. This victory allowed New Zealand to secure a spot in the semi-finals along with Australia from Group B.
An overview of New Zealand Innings
In the match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, New Zealand captain Sophie Devine won the toss and chose to bat first.
New Zealand got off to a good start, reaching 39 runs without losing any wickets by the end of the powerplay, with Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer playing well.
However, Pakistan made a comeback during the middle overs. Nashra Sandhu took both openers’ wickets. Plimmer was out for 17 runs off 14 balls, and Bates followed for 28 runs off 29 balls two overs later.
Melie Kerr struggled to score and managed only 9 runs off 17 balls before being caught by Pakistan’s returning captain, Fatima Sana.
Sophie Devine and Brooke Halliday then worked together to rebuild New Zealand’s innings. But Pakistan’s spinners made it hard for them to score, preventing New Zealand from reaching a very high total.
A smart stumping by Muneeba Ali ended Halliday’s innings at 22 runs off 24 balls. Fatima Sana caught Devine for 19 runs off 25 balls and also took the catch for Maddy Green, who scored 9 runs off 7 balls.
In total, eight catches were dropped by Pakistan, including three in the final over, which could have limited New Zealand’s score even more. Nashra Sandhu being the standout bowler, taking 3 wickets for just 18 runs.
Pakistan Collapse
Pakistan started their innings with Muneeba Ali, who scored 15 runs off 11 balls, setting an attacking tone. However, Muneeba, along with Aliya Riaz (0), Sadaf Shamas (2), and Iram Javed (3), lost their wickets early, causing the required run rate to increase.
Wickets kept falling as Pakistan’s aggressive approach backfired. Fatima Sana (21 runs off 23 balls) and Muniba Ali (15 runs off 11 balls) were the only players to perform well.
New Zealand enters into the Semifinals
Pakistan knew they could qualify for the knockout stages by chasing down the target of 111 quickly. However, if they had won more slowly, India would have taken the qualifying spot instead. Unfortunately for Pakistan, a mix of excellent bowling from New Zealand and their aggressive batting led to a quick end to the match. Pakistan was bowled out for just 56 runs in only 11.4 overs.
For New Zealand Amelia Kerr took 3 wickets for just 14 runs and Eden Carson took 2 for7 runs. With this win New Zealand are through to the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
