Sydney, Nov 9: A crestfallen New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said losing the T20 World Cup semifinal was a “tough pill to swallow” but admitted that his team was not disciplined enough to challenge a far-superior Pakistan here on Wednesday.
New Zealand, last edition’s runners-up, were outclassed in the semifinal by Pakistan, who dished out a clinical show to notch up a comfortable seven-wicket win to sail into their third T20 World Cup final.
“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. Babar (Azam) and (Mohammad) Rizwan put us under pressure,” Williamson said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Pakistan first restricted New Zealand to 152 for four on a slow SCG track and then chased down the target with consummate ease, riding on skipper Babar and Rizwan’s attacking fifties to book their place in the T20 World Cup final after 13 years.
“We were put under pressure early. Pakistan bowled very nicely. We managed to wrestle back some momentum with an unbelievable knock from (Daryl) Mitchell. At the halfway stage we were feeling it was a competitive total. Wicket was a bit tough – used surface,” Williamson said.
“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,” the Kiwi captain said. (PTI)
