New Zealand captain Kane Williamson declared on the eve of his team’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan that his team’s emphasis was squarely on the match. This happened after their September tour of Pakistan was abruptly postponed only hours before their first game owing to a security threat.
‘As a team, we really felt for the loss of that series. Especially for the Pakistani fans and players. It was a real shame and we certainly hope international cricket returns there as soon as possible. But our focus is on this first game. There are a lot of good relationships between players of both sides and Pakistan surely play in good spirit. he said
“We had a bit of dinner and saw some of the game. We were in the team room and some of the cricket was watched in there too. That’s one of the beauties of tournament sport – often you’re following the progress of other teams and how things shape up. It was an incredible game and Pakistan was flying high for sure.” Williamson said
Babar Azam
Babar Azam’s Pakistan team is coming off a 10-wicket victory over India in Dubai. It was the team’s first victory in 13 attempts at international Cricket World Cups (in both 50-over and 20-over formats).
With a magnificent opening spell, Shaheen Shah Afridi demolished the Indian top-order. Later, the 152-run target was easily surpassed. Babar, the captain, and Mohammad Rizwan, the wicket-keeper batsman, both cruised to victory with magnificent half-centuries.
They’ll face a New Zealand team that has lost both of its warm-up matches, against Australia and England. They are anxious to get started in the competition, which will take place tonight in Sharjah. With the successive victories, Pakistan hopes to reassert its supremacy in Group 2. Kane Williamson and the Blackcaps, on the other hand, will be eager to get started right away.
Read more: Smriti Mandhana says “WBBL experience will definitely count playing for India” in T20 World Cup
Visit also: Kagiso Rabada- “Quinton de Kock needs just to go in and do his thing” in T20 World Cup 2021