Shadab Khan took three wickets and then hit the winning runs as Pakistan beat Netherlands by six wickets with six overs to spare on Sunday, finally posting a victory at the Twenty20 World Cup.
Pakistan lost in a last-ball thriller in its tournament opener against archrival India and was upset by Zimbabwe before a thumping win over the Dutch to start a Group 2 double-header in Perth.
In the Western Australian capital, Pakistan’s pace attack restricted Netherlands to 91-9, with Shadab taking 3-22 and Mohammad Wasim Jr. returning 2-15.
Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat but couldn’t cope with Pakistan’s quick bowlers and slumped quickly to 26-3.
Colin Ackermann (27) tried rebuilding the innings but Shadab ran through the middle order and Wasim Jr. narrowly missed his hat trick toward the end. He had dismissed Tim Pringle (5) and Fred Klaassen (0) dismissed off successive balls.
Only two Dutch players scored in double digits.
Pakistan replied with a sedate innings and knocked up the runs in 13.5 overs, finishing with 95-4.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 49 off 39 balls, combining with Fakhar Zaman (20) in a 37-run second wicket stand after Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (4) was run out.
Pakistan didn’t appear to be in any hurry to finish the proceedings, with Rizwan dismissed just in sight of the finish line and missing out his half-century. Shan Masood (12) was also out before Pakistan completed the formalities with Shadab’s boundary through mid-off.
“The last couple of games, we didn’t finish the games well,” Shadab said. “Today, we finished it off.”
Pakistan is fifth in the Group 2 standings, and Netherlands has been knocked out of contention after three consecutive losses in the Super 12 stage.
Source: United News of Bangladesh