Not many saw it coming but Pakistan punched their ticket to the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals as they beat Bangladesh by 5 wickets in their Group 2 encounter at the Adelaide Oval.
Opting to bat first in an encounter which became a winner takes it all affair after South Africa lost vs Netherlands, the Bangla Tigers lost an in-form Litton Das for just 10 runs in the 3rd over.
Najmul Hossain Shanto impressed with a half-century but with 73 runs on the board around the halfway stage of the innings, Pakistani spinner Shadab Khan managed to take batters Soumya Sarkar (20) and skipper Shakib Al Hasan (0) out of the game in the 11th over.
Pacer Shaheen Afridi also impressed with his bowling spell of 4/22 as he unsettled Bangladesh from the very beginning, who eventually settled for a below-par 127/8.
Chasing which, openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam gave Pakistan a watchful start knowing they had a low total in front of them.
But the Men in Green lost both openers with 61 runs on the board. But Mohammad Haris' brilliant 31-run cameo off just 18 deliveries steered Pakistan to a 5-wicket victory against Bangladesh and got them a spot in the semi-finals.
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