The Pakistan side defeated Bangladesh in a knockout game in Adelaide on Sunday, November 6, 2022, to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022. They became the second side from Group 2 to make it into the knockouts after India.
India made it into the semis after South Africa lost their final group match to the Netherlands earlier in the day and this made Pakistan vs Bangladesh match a must-win game for both sides with the winner going into the semi-finals.
Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and chose to bat first, Najmul Hasan Shanto made 54 with 7 fours, while Soumya Sarkar (20) and Afif Hossain (24*) contributed to take Bangladesh to a fighting, yet below par 127/8 in 20 overs.
For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi picked 4/24 and Shadab Khan took 2/30.
In reply, Bangladesh kept the Pakistani batters in check, especially the openers Mohammad Rizwan (32 in 32 balls) and Babar Azam (25 in 33 balls). Though they added 57 runs for the opening wicket, they took 10.3 overs to do so, putting pressure on the remainder of the batting after they got out.
But then Mohammad Haris with 31 in 18 balls and Shan Masood with 24* in 14 balls, took Pakistan past the finish line with 5 wickets in hand and put the Men in Green in the knockouts of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Shaheen Afridi was named the Player of the Match and the Pakistan cricket fraternity rejoiced on Twitter after Babar Azam and co. qualified for the semi-finals.
Here are the tweets:
