Adelaide: Shaheen Afridi picked up a career-best four-wicket haul to help Pakistan restrict Bangladesh to a paltry 127 for eight in their do-or-die T20 World Cup match here on Sunday. On a difficult pitch, left-handed opener Najmul Hossain Shanto slammed a counter-attacking 48-ball 54 but Bangladesh lacked the final flourish with Pakistani spinners triggering the collapse before Afridi seizing control in a superb haul of 4/22.
Shanto was at his fluent best and pierced the field at ease en route to his second fifty of the tournament. After the early dismissal of Liton Das, Shanto and Soumya Sarkar (20; 17b; 1x4, 1x6) worked well and shared 72 runs off 47 balls for the second wicket to lay good platform for Bangladesh.
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Bangladesh were easily looking at a 150-plus score when Shadab Khan (2/30) trigerred the downfall. The leg-spinner took two wickets in two balls, including a dubious DRS dismissal of Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan for a golden duck. Shanto, however, seemed undeterred as he went about his business and completed a 46-ball fifty, his second in the tournament. But off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed outsmarted Shanto, cleaning him up with a slower one.
Iftikhar returned with fine figures of 3-0-15-1 as Babar Azam's ploy to attack with the off-spinner against left-handed Bangladesh batters did the trick. Afridi then got into the act, dismissing Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed in six balls, across two overs.
Speedster Haris Rauf looked at his best and returned with 1/21. Bangladesh got off to a decent start with Shanto and Sarkar getting hold of the proceedings. At the halfway mark, Bangladesh were sitting pretty on 70 for 1 when Shadab grabbed two -- Sarkar (20; 17b) and skipper Shakib (0) -- in two balls to put brakes on Bangladesh. Shanto easily found the gaps early on as Naseem Shah struggled to find his line against the left-hander.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh: 127 for 8 in 20 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 54; Shaheen Afridi 4/22, Shadab Khan 2/30).
