Adelaide November 6 2022: Pakistan beat Bangladesh with five wickets in a low scoring match to reach the Semi Final of T20 World Cup 2022.
Pakistan will likely to face New Zealand in the Semi Final if India wins against Zimbabwe. India is the other team from the group which is through to the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup thanks to Netherlands shock victory over South Africa earlier on Sunday. Netherlands’ triumph ensured India can now afford to take their clash against Zimbabwe with more of a relaxed air. They have the luxury of resting players that need it, experiment with combinations, and generally have a breather before their semi-final clash.
Babar Azam and his men didn’t enjoy the best of starts to the campaign as they lost their first two matches to India and Zimbabwe. But they bounced back strongly and have registered comprehensive wins against Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh since then. These victories have given them a lot of confidence and, with momentum on their side, they will be looking to deliver another strong performance in the Semis.
The performance of the top order has emerged as a bit of a concern for them but their middle order and an in-form bowling unit has kept the team going. It’s high time now that the top order stepped up as well.
Shaheen Afridi’s four-wicket haul has helped Pakistan clinch a semi-final spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in Adelaide on Sunday.
At the start of the day Pakistan needed plenty to go right just to be in contention for a semi-final berth and Babar Azam’s side had everything go exactly how they wanted as they clinched what looked to be an unlikely spot in the final four.
Shaheen Afridi looked back to his brilliant best with impressive figures of 4/22 at Adelaide Oval as Bangladesh could manage just 127/8 in good batting conditions and Pakistan found the victory target with two overs remaining despite a few wobbles in reply.
Finally a decent partnership for Babar and Rizwan
Babar (25) and Mohammad Rizwan (32) are arguably the best opening pair in T20I cricket, but up until Sunday’s match neither player had done much at the T20 World Cup.
The pair had put on 57 for the opening wicket and it looked like they were going to propel Pakistan to an easy victory, until both were removed in quick succession as Bangladesh found a glimmer of hope.
That hope was built upon when Litton Das threw down the stumps of Mohammad Nawaz to send the Pakistan all-rounder packing as nerves began to set in for Babar’s talented side.
But that was as good as it got as Bangladesh’s campaign came to an end and Pakistan’s continued on to the knockout stages in the semi-finals.
Shakib shows frustration as Bangladesh miss golden chance
Shakib was a frustrated man during much of Sunday’s clash and it all began when he was given out LBW for a golden duck as Bangladesh’s strong start inside their batting Powerplay was suddenly halted.
The experienced Bangladesh leader was given out LBW first ball by South Africa umpire Adrian Holdstock and he immediately sent the decision to be reviewed as he was convinced he had edged the ball onto his pad.
Shakib was left frustrated when the TV umpire confirmed the onfield decision and his ire only grew during Pakistan’s innings when he wasn’t allowed to review an LBW decision against Nawaz due to the time having elapsed.
It wasn’t meant to be for Shakib or for Bangladesh, but the Asian team can hold their heads high for the way they have performed at the tournament.
Shaheen Afridi’s four-wicket haul has helped put Pakistan in the box seat for victory against Bangladesh and an unlikely semi-final berth at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Afridi looked back his brilliant best with impressive figures of 4/22 at Adelaide Oval as Bangladesh could manage just 127/8 in good batting conditions.
The Pakistan speedster got the key wicket of Litton Das (10) with the new ball, before returning at the death to ensure Bangladesh posted a below par score.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain
