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."
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