Pakistan down Bangladesh to qualify for semi-finals

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.

The Netherlands’ stunning victory over South Africa earlier in the day left Pakistan’s match against Bangladesh as a virtual quarter-final and the contest between the two Asian sides kept everyone on the edge of their seat right until the gripping climax.

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.

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.