Adelaide, Nov 6 : Shaheen Afridi’s four-wicket haul helped Pakistan clinch a semifinal spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh here on Sunday.
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. Pakistan found the victory target with two overs remaining despite a few wobbles in reply.
At the start of the day Pakistan needed plenty to go right just to be in contention for a semifinal 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.
The Netherlands’ victory over South Africa earlier in the day left Pakistan’s match against Bangladesh as a virtual quarterfinal and the contest between the two Asian sides kept everyone on the edge of their seat right until the gripping climax.
Pakistan opening duo Babar (25) and Mohammad Rizwan (32) put on 57 for the first 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.
Then, Mohammad Haris came on bat with Pakistan needing 67 runs off 52 balls. He scored 31 off 18 balls with one four and two sixes and to pave the way for his team to reach the semifinals with Shah Masood’s (24* off 14) support form the other end.
With the win, Pakistan has become the second team after India to reach the semifinals in Group 2.
