ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final, Sydney
New Zealand 152-4 (20 overs): Mitchell 53* (35), Williamson 46 (42); Shaheen 2-24
Pakistan 153-3 (19.1 overs): Rizwan 57 (43), Babar 53 (42)
Pakistan won by seven wickets
Scorecard;

Pakistan defeated New Zealand by seven runs in the Men's T20 World Cup semifinals.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan hit half-centuries in an opening stand of 105 to set up a stunning victory.

The Pakistan fans were in raptures when Masood hit the winning runs.

New Zealand recovered from a 49-point deficit to post a 152-4 victory.

Pakistan will play England or India in the final of the Australian Open.

Pakistan were on the verge of elimination after losing to India and Zimbabwe in their first two games of the tournament.

They need a shock victory over South Africa to keep their hopes alive, but they are just one match away from a second T20 World Cup triumph.

The team has done well in the last three matches. Pakistan captain Babar thanked the crowd and said it felt like they were at home.

At the same time, we need to focus on the final.

Pakistan hoping to emulate their class of 92

Imran Khan celebrating after the 1992 World Cup final
Imran Khan captained Pakistan to a 22-run win over England in the 1992 World Cup final in Melbourne

Pakistan made an awful start to this tournament, but now seem to have almost unstoppable momentum as they look to repeat their success in the 1992 50-over World Cup in Australia.

They had a terrible start to the competition, losing their first three group matches, but a dramatic revival helped them to victory over England in the final.

There seems to be a similar sense of destiny here as they ride the crest of a wave that was once against them.

They blew New Zealand away thanks to a wonderful start with the bat by Babar and Rizwan, who finally fired when it mattered.

The New Zealand players looked stunned when they reached 87-0 at the halfway stage of the game.

Babar and I were having trouble with the pitches. The player of the match was Mohammad Rizwan.

We wanted to take on the new ball as soon as possible. We knew the pitch was difficult and we knew we could take them on.

Masood saw them over the line to complete a comprehensive victory, despite the fact that Pakistan had taken two more late wickets.

It is incredible. The way they've come back feels like it was written in the stars.

It's a cliché, saying you never know what you're going to get from Pakistan, but what they have shown today is resilience, strength, and when it mattered they put everything together.

Black Caps well beaten

After a thumping win over Australia, New Zealand made almost serene progress to the next stage.

They can have few complaints with the result.

Finn Allen hit the first ball of the match for four before he was out, and the tone of the match was set in the first over.

Allen was able to overturn the decision after replays showed a thick inside edge, but another vicious inswinger from Shaheen trapped him in front of the crowd.

After the Black Caps fell to 49-3, Mitchell and Williamson dug in to rebuild the score.

New Zealand's 152-4 was a defendable total because the used surface was slow and hard to score from. Pakistan made a mockery of that when they dismantled the Black Caps bowling partnership of Boult and Southee in the powerplay.

New Zealand's below-par display was summed up by two dropped catches, most notably Babar, who was put down by the keeper from the first ball of the match.

It is a difficult pill to take. We should have been more disciplined if we were honest with ourselves. They were the victors of that game.

We have played a lot of good cricket, we have stuck to what has given us a lot of success, but today we weren't at our best.