Tactics board: Rauf vs Conway, Pakistan's weakness against offspin, and more
Sydney has seen all but one match won batting first this World Cup, with pace and spin both playing their respective roles
No venue has benefitted the teams batting first in this T20 World Cup more than Sydney: five of the six matches played here have been won by the team batting first. The only successful chase in Sydney was by England, who were set 142 by Sri Lanka, to seal a spot in the semi-final.
Pakistan's batters have contrasting record against offspin. While Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan and Shan Masood have a good record against this type of bowling, the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan doesn't strike well against offspinners. And so it could be an interesting battle for Pakistan against an offspinner who is yet to play a game in this World Cup.
The hard length has been the preference for pace bowlers against Pakistan in this World Cup: 50.25% of balls by them against Pakistan in the tournament have been pitched short-of-a-good length or short. That is the most any team has faced since the start of the Super 12s. Pakistan lost six wickets to the hard length against India in their first game. They averaged 13.92 against those lengths, the second worst in the Super 12s behind Zimbabwe's 10.42. Both Pakistan and Zimbabwe lost 14 wickets facing the hard length, the most by any team.
Haris Rauf vs Devon Conway
Conway started this tournament on a high, scoring an unbeaten 92 against Australia. But since then, he has got just 32 runs in three innings. Against Pakistan, Conway will be up against his nemesis Rauf: in T20Is, Rauf has dismissed him four times in just 27 balls, off which Conway has managed only 29 runs. However, two of those dismissals were in the last four overs of the innings. But in a World Cup semi-final, will Pakistan look to bowl Rauf early on to get rid of Conway?
Expect the middle overs to be a crucial phase of the game in Sydney. New Zealand's spin duo of Sodhi and Mitchell Santner have played a key role in their team's success so far in this competition, and so Pakistan trying to go after one of them could be crucial for them to claim an advantage.
Allen's strike rate of 158.89 in powerplay in T20Is is the highest for any batter since 2021 with a minimum of 100 balls faced. He started off this T20 World Cup with 42 off 16 balls against Australia, which laid the foundation for New Zealand's victory.