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Shadab Khan was devastated after Pakistan's narrow loss by one run against Zimbabwe on October 27. Shadab was seen on his knees in the hallway as Shaheen Afridi got run out trying to complete two runs and take the game into super over. Shadab had to be consoled by a support staff member after which he walked towards the dressing room. The video has been making rounds on the social media.
Shadab was dismissed by Sikandar Raza in the 14th over of the run chase. Shadab had hit a six off the previous ball but went for a big shot. He could not clear the boundary and got caught by Sean Williams. The spin all-rounder scored 17 runs from 14 deliveries in the run chase stabilizing partnership.
The wicket of Shadab turned out to be the turning point of the game. Till then, Pakistan were in control as Shan Masood and the vice-captain were cruising towards the target. As the 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket ended, Pakistan crumbled under pressure. Haider Ali got out off the next delivery whereas Masood got stumped out in Raza's next over.
Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim Jr almost pulled off a win but Brad Evans bowled brilliantly to win the game for Zimbabwe by one run.
This was Pakistan’s second loss on the trot off the final ball of the game. Nawaz, once again, could not stick to the basics in the final over as Pakistan’s road to semi-final gets even harder.
“We would have taken 130 at the halfway stage. Very disappointing performance, we are not up to the mark in batting. We have good batters but both openers got out in the powerplay. When Shadab and Shan were building partnership, unfortunately Shadab got out and then back-to-back wickets that pushed us into pressure situation,” skipper Babar Azam said in the post-match presentation.
Pakistan will now take on Netherlands in the must-win encounter at Perth Stadium on October 30. They will also have their eyes set on the India vs South Africa encounter as their arch-rivals’ win will increase their chances of qualifying for the next stage.
