"Make Sure You Win, Then...": Netherlands Star's Message To Babar Azam Goes Viral

Sunday witnessed a couple of surprising results in the T20 World Cup. First, Netherlands stunned South Africa by 13 runs in a Group 2 match. Then Pakistan, who till recently were on the brink of exit, defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in their high-stake final group match to qualify for the semi-finals. The result meant that Pakistan and India are the two teams from Group 2 to advance to the semi-finals. Netherlands' win over South Africa also meant that the Dutch finished in top-4, ensuring their qualififcation directly for the 2024 T20 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States of America and the West Indies.

Netherlands brought Pakistan, lying at the third spot before their Sunday game, back in contention for the semi-finals with the upset win over South Africa. After the game in Adelaide, Pakistan were playing Bangladesh at the same venue. A win would not only have ensured their entry into the last four but also put Netherlands in prime position to finish fourth. So, as Babar Azam made entry into ground, a Netherlands player told him: "Hey, make sure you win, then we finish fourth."

Shoaib Akhtar shared the video of the incident with the caption: "They got us into the semifinals. We ensured their entry into next T20 World Cup."

What a beautiful moment between the captains of Netherlands & Pakistan.
They got us into the semifinals. We ensured their entry into next T20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/FC13lteSwN

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 6, 2022

Opting to bat, Bangladesh got off to a rollicking start with Najmul Hossain Shanto slamming a counter-attacking 48-ball 54 but lacked the final flourish as Pakistan rode on pacer Shaheen Afridi's career-best T20I figures of 4 for 22 to restrict their opponents to a paltry 127 for eight.

It was not a straightforward chase as Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals to find themselves in a tricky position before Shan Masood held his nerves to seal the win with 11 balls to spare.

With PTI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Netherlands ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Tom Cooper Babar Azam