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'I would like to face...': Matthew Hayden picks between India and England to play Pakistan in T20 World Cup final
After Pakistan's win vs New Zealand in their T20 World Cup semi-final, team mentor Matthew Hayden gave his verdict on the upcoming second semi-final between India and England.
Building on their momentum, a resurgent Pakistan defeated New Zealand in their T20 World Cup 2022 fixture, at the SCG in Sydney on Wednesday to qualify for the final. Pakistan, who were on the brink of elimination after back-to-back defeats against India and Zimbabwe in their first two matches of the tournament, regrouped in style and after pulling things back with an improved show and a few upsets going their way, will now play the winner of the India vs England tie at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Of course, after today's result, the prospect of an India vs Pakistan final has only gotten stronger. If India are able to get past England, it will only be the second World Cup final between the two sides, 15 years removed from the 2007 final in Johannesburg. As tempting as the sound of it is, the world will have to wait another 24 hours to find out whether it will indeed be the case. After Pakistan's win though, the team's batting coach Matthew Hayden called it a 'special' victory and stated that if India beat England in the other semi-final, it could be 'crazy chaos' in the final.
"I would like to face India. Just because of the pure spectacle of pretty of much a third of the population all tuning in at the same time. That is fantastic. Can you just imagine, let's cast our mind forward a couple of days, should India beat England, It will just be crazy chaos in Melbourne. But tonight was very special," Hayden told the broadcaster while revealing his pick to face Pakistan in the final at the MCG on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 153 runs, Pakistan chased down the target and finished on 153/3 in 19.1 overs, courtesy of some brilliant batting by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan captain Babar bounced back to form and smacked 53 runs off 42 balls, including seven fours. Meanwhile, his opening Rizwan slammed 57 runs off 43 balls, packed with five fours and together, the duo forged a solid 105-run partnership for the first wicket. Initially, New Zealand posted 152/4 in 20 overs, with Daryl Mitchell slamming an unbeaten knock of 53 runs off 35 balls. Shaheen Shah Afridi continued to get better and following his four-wicket haul against Bangladesh, grabbed 2/24 here.
Like Babar, Rizwan discovered lost form, and after being adjudged the Player of the Match, expressed his joy that the half-century came in the crunch semi-final. "Luckily, the fifty was in the semifinal. Babar and I were struggling but we worked hard and believed. We kept fighting. When we crossed the boundary line, we decided to take the attack to the new ball bowlers. When we finished the powerplay, we knew one of us had to bat deep as it was a tricky pitch. Our start (to the tournament) wasn't good, but the guys kept believing", he said.
Losing captain Kane Williamson, meanwhile, rued the missed opportunities and admitted that his team was outplayed by Pakistan. "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. Wicket was a bit tough - used surface. Very disappointing to not make Pakistan work a lot harder. They were outstanding. We were outplayed. It's a tough pill for us to swallow," he said.
"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 deserve to be winners. There's been a lot of good cricket. Throughout the round-robin, we've played nicely. Today we weren't at our best. Having said that, we know the fickle nature of T20 cricket."
