ICC T20 World Cup 2022: PAK unexpectedly makes it to semis with 5-wicket BAN triumph
Pakistan bested Bangladesh by five wickets in the Super 12 of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Sunday. With this conquest, the Men in Green have unexpectedly made it to the semis.
FollowPakistan was handed an unexpected lifeline, thanks to the Netherlands triumphing over South Africa earlier on Sunday. As a result, the Men in Green made the most of it against sub-continent neighbours Bangladesh and drubbed it by five wickets in the Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Adelaide Oval. While pacer Shaheen Afridi nailed it with his four-for, it was a consolidated batting effort from the Pakistanis. As they go atop the group table, for the time being, they look set to finish in second place and face New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Wednesday.
Winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat, as it lost Litton Das (10) to Shaheen in the third over of the PowerPlay (PP). However, opener Nazmul Hossain Shanto (54) and Soumya Sarkar (20) added 52 for the second wicket before the latter was dismissed by leg-spinner Shadab Khan in the 11th.
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However, the Bangladeshis struggled to get good partnerships going hereon and settled for a sub-par total of 127/8, while Shanto brought up his second Twenty20 International (T20I) half-century. For the Pakistanis, Shaheen nailed it with his four-for, while fellow pacer Naseem Shah and leg-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed were decently economical.
In reply, Pakistan openers Mohammad Rizwan (32) and Babar Azam (25) put on 52 before the latter went packing to orthodox spinner Nasum Ahmed in the 11th, followed by the former in the subsequent over to medium-pacer Ebadot Hossain, four runs later. Nevertheless, a 31-run partnership happened between Mohammad Nawaz (4) and Mohammad Haris (31) before the former was dismissed via a run-out in the 15th.
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Although Pakistan lost a couple of more wickets thereon, it managed to maintain the required rate with some 20-odd run partnerships, thanks to the achievable total and got the job done by five wickets within the 19th over. Four bowlers claimed a wicket each for the Tigers, while Nasum was heavily economical.
Brief scores: BAN 127/8 (Shanto- 54; Afridi- 4/22) lost to PAK 128/5 in 18.1 overs (Rizwan- 32, Haris- 31; Nasum- 1/14) by five wickets.
