The curse upon New Zealand associated with World Cups knockout stages has begun long back from the first ever Prudential Cup in 1975 itself after being thrashed by West Indies and comes a long way.

1979 the place changed however, the result remained the same, this time New Zealand suffered a beating against the host nation England in the semi-final.

Cut to 1992, Pakistan somehow made entry into the last four goes on to beat the KIWIS in the semi-final, and went on to lift the coveted cup in Australia.

1996, a stage down below, however, the result remained the same for the New Zealand team suffering a quarter-final blow against the 1987 champion team Australia.

Yet another defeat from the Pakistani side in the semi-final, 7 years later than the first in 1999, where Pakistan suffered a beating against Australia in the Final.

2007, the year saw two major World Cups, including the inaugural 2007 T20 WC, but the fate remained the same for the KIWIS losing to Sri Lanka in the ODI WC held in Kenya.

The major blow for the Kiwi side came consecutively in four editions of the WCs beginning in 2007, a 2011 semi-final defeat against Sri Lanka, besides the 2015 and 2019 Finals against hosts Australia and England.

Only lost to Pakistan in the group stage, the Kane Williamson-led side lost its first appearance in the Final in 2021, which came 5 years later after losing SF against England in the 2016 T20 WC.

Into their 12th semi-final encounter including 3 finals, will NZ be able to break the jinx against Pakistan this time in Australia, who have defeated them in all previous 3 SF encounters?