Mercurial Pakistan seek motivation from 1992 World Cup to beat Black Caps

After a rollercoaster ride in group phase, Pakistan seek motivation from their 1992 World Cup campaign to beat New Zealand in the first semifinal and confirm the final of the T20 World Cup.

The match, which will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) starts at 2 PM Bangladesh time.

The 1992 World Cup, that Pakistan won in Australia, under the shrewd leadership of Imran Khan actually came into the fore again because of the similar way the two teams -New Zealand and Pakistan sealed the semifinal.

Like the 1992, New Zealand came to the semifinal after a dominant group phase and Pakistan were all but eliminated but somehow got a favour of luck and finally reached the last four stage.

Thanks to a blitzkrieg from Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan stunned New Zealand to reach final and then crushed England to win the 1992 World Cup. England also reached semifinal of this T20 World Cup in which they will play against India in Adelaide on Thursday.

"It (1992 World Cup) hasn't directly been influenced. But one of the great parts about media is that all of us, players, support staff, we all understand the importance and significance of campaigns. And '92 was a memorable one for Pakistan cricket," Pakistan head coach Matthew Hayden said.

"It was also a tournament that was plagued by the nuances of Pakistan cricket; that is, there's not a dominant performance. There's a performance that gets challenged and then Pakistan suddenly turn up and they're dangerous and formidable. And that tournament was exactly that."

"I can remember watching that, actually, from the bleachers, just as a fan, and thinking Pakistan cricket, with that fast bowling attack and that batting lineup, is something we really have to look out for as Australian cricketers. As it turned out, so did England. It was a wonderful campaign. And those forefathers of cricket, a lot of these players, they grew up admiring, watching, looking at the way they played and then hoping one day that they could also be great like that side was."

Pakistan lost their first match to archrivals India despite being in a winning position and then got upset by Zimbabwe. The consecutive two defeats left their semifinal aspiration in limbo but then suddenly they turned up well to beat South Africa and Netherlands. But it was not enough until South Africa were stunned by a spirited Netherlands.

Thereafter the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh turned out to be unofficial quarterfinal in which they beat the Tigers by five wickets to confirm semifinal.

"On any given day, anything can happen. And on that particular day, when Netherlands beat South Africa, it was a significant moment for us in the tournament and a very, very significant moment for the team in general around the potential in reaching that potential," Hayden added.

New Zealand however showed as to why they are so far the best team in this format. Even though they lost one match to England in group phase, they have effective players in all positions and led by a really serene and gentleman like Kane Williamson, they are playing a cricket to savour.

The Kiwis indeed know how to go to final. Since 2015 World Cup, they reached the final in every ICC event, apart from 2016 T20 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy. They played the final of 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup but unfortunately lost. In 2021, they played the inaugural Test World Cup final and broke the jinx of ICC trophy draught. In 2021 T20 World Cup they again played final but lost to Australia. Now it's their time to let the 1992 World Cup ghost go.

However while New Zealand's record against Pakistan in ICC tournament is not a thing to rejoice, their T20 record against the same team is also not good enough. The two teams met 28 times with Pakistan leading the way with 17 wins.