‘Special thanks to Nethelands’ – Fans flood Twitter with memes after Pakistan thrashes New Zealand in 20-20 World Cup 2022 semifinal

Pakistan and New Zealand played each other in the first semifinal of the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Pakistan has always enjoyed a 100 percent win record against the Kiwis in World Cup knockouts. In the 1992 and 1999 ODI World Cups, the Green Brigade won against the Blackcaps. Also, in the 2007 20-20 World Cup, Pakistan did the same. Coincidentally, it was the first semifinal of that tournament.

After the wait for 15 years, both teams played each other in the semifinal of the ongoing tournament. In the game, the 2021 finalists won the toss and elected to bat first given the dry surface and the pressure of knockout. However, Pakistan bowlers dominated the powerplay and gave away only 38 runs. NZ had a lot of expectations from the in-form Glenn Phillips but he couldn’t deliver in the big game. In the end, thanks to skipper Kane Williamson (46) and Daryl Mitchell (53*), the team reached 152/4.

Pakistan made a mockery of New Zealand’s bowling

While chasing, the 2009 winners needed their opening batters to provide a strong start. However, they were out of form up until this point. Ironically, the same pair of skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan punished the Kiwi bowlers. One of the most experienced bowling line-ups in the tournament had no answer to the onslaught from the ‘out-of-form’ batters in the powerplay and beyond.

In the powerplay, the former champions scored 55/0, 12 runs more than their opponents. After this, they went on to score the fifties each and with this, they redeemed themselves after the poor show they made in the Super 12 round games. Meanwhile, their good work was carried on by Mohammad Haris who only started playing for the team against South Africa. The youngster scored 30 off 26, ensuring the team doesn’t suffer any hiccups, something Pakistan is notoriously famous for.

Meanwhile, they chased down the total in the last over with ease and won the game by seven wickets and five balls left.

Top 10 memes from the game

https://twitter.com/Sadiyakhan02/status/1590306963073925122?s=20&t=eRIoaggzyLWUP5KeWM6pqg

Congratulations Pakistan
We are in finals…..#PakvsNz pic.twitter.com/7azBgZZOEW

— Maria Hanif Awan (@MariaHanif2) November 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/pulkit5Dx/status/1590305320701956099?s=20&t=1FOs8bfAt_Kk30t89mEHkA

Amir and his fans rn: #NZvPAK #PakvsNz pic.twitter.com/EmPJ8k2GYe

— Arqam (@arrqamm) November 9, 2022

@BLACKCAPS#PakvsNz #T20Iworldcup2022 pic.twitter.com/IeWW2c6TvG

— Pranav (@Free_Thinker_Me) November 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/Kaaff_sayzz/status/1590319938711191554?s=20&t=hk3TEa70CnoZArU6B9S3lA

https://twitter.com/Rajabarbhuiya3/status/1590319925394300930?s=20&t=hk3TEa70CnoZArU6B9S3lA

https://twitter.com/kapildevtmkr/status/1590319909619535872?s=20&t=hk3TEa70CnoZArU6B9S3lA

https://twitter.com/akhla_ms/status/1590319908981968903?s=20&t=hk3TEa70CnoZArU6B9S3lA

https://twitter.com/Aanwar_khan04/status/1590319898068103169?s=20&t=hk3TEa70CnoZArU6B9S3lA