On November 5, Pakistan fans were hoping that Zimbabwe beat India so that they qualify for T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final after beating Bangladesh. However, the fate had something even better and more surprising in store for them. On November 6, they woke up to the news that Netherlands were posing a challenge to South Africa. Eventually, South Africa choked in a must-win game which converted Bangladesh vs Pakistan match into a virtual quarter-final.
Pakistan and Bangladesh players were at the Adelaide Oval as they watched Dutch bowlers defend the total against a nervous South Africa batting lineup. After the match was over as Babar Azam & co. walked out to the middle, Netherlands batter Tom Cooper told him, “Make sure you win, then we finish fourth”.
Babar thanked the Netherlands players as he walked out for his last Super 12 clash against Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh.
Pakistan Charged up after Netherlands' 13-run win, Shaheen Afridi delivered his best bowling performance of T20I career to help his side restrict Bangladesh for a below par score of 127/8. After a few hiccups, Mohammad Haris and Shan Masood's cameos helped Pakistan chase down the total by five wickets with 11 balls to spare.
The loss had a massive impact on Bangladesh's net run rate (NRR) and Netherlands finished fourth on Group 2 points table.
Earlier, Netherlands posted a total of 158/4. Kagiso Rabada turned out to be the most expensive Proteas bowler as he leaked 37 runs from three overs. Anrich Nortje was economical and picked up a wicket as well whereas Keshav Maharaj got two wickets from 27 runs.
Netherlands openers got off to a good start but could not capitalise. Cameos from Cooper (19-ball 35) and Colin Ackermann (26-ball 41) helped Netherlands post a fighting total of 158/4 on the board.
Dutch bowlers kept openers Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma quiet as they could not score over run-a-ball before getting out in the powerplay overs. Rilee Rossouw and Aiden Markram tried to attack but could not convert. The middle-order crumbled under the pressure of required run rate. In the end, they could manage to score 145/8 in the run chase and got knocked out of the tournament. Brandon Glover bowled beautifully and took three wickets from just two overs.
