By IANS
Cape Town : Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by four wickets in their final match of the Super Eights and moved into the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Championship of cricket here Thursday.
A blistering knock of 71 off 49 deliveries by Junaid Siddique guided Bangladesh to a challenging 140 though they were bowled out in 19.1 overs. In reply, a typical Shahid Afridi knock of 39 in just 15 deliveries helped Pakistan romp home safely with one over to spare.
Siddique, who’s only 19, should have been back in the pavilion when he had made just 2, but a miscued pull off Mohammad Asif was fumbled by Misbah-ul-Haq. That didn’t deter the 19-year-old from going after the Pakistan bowling, which was listless with plenty of wides and no-balls.
Siddique, who was adjudged the Man of the Match, was quickly into his stride, playing some beautiful strokes. Even the introduction of Shahid Afrid didn’t put him off and he hit the spinner for two fours down the ground. It took him just 35 balls to reach 50.
Siddique also heaved Mohammed Hafeez for two sixes over midwicket, but in the end couldn’t get much support from his team mates and the Bangladesh batting folded in 19.1 overs.
While chasing, Pakistan suffered the first set-back in the third ball of the innings when opener Imran Nazir retired hurt after he tried to pull a Mashrafe Mortaza delivery, which hurried on to him and hit him on his abdomen.
But the opener came back in the 16th over and guided his team to a comfortable four wicket win.
SCOREBOARD:
Bangladesh vs. Pakistan, Twenty20 World Championships, Newlands, Cape Town
Bangladesh:
Tamim Iqbal run out (Hafeez) 3
Junaid Siddique c Misbah b Malik 71
Aftab Ahmed st Akmal b Hafeez 16
Mohammed Ashraful lbw Shahid Afridi 5
Shakib Al Hasan c & b Hafeez 1
Nadif Chowdhury c Akmal b Malik 12
Mahmudullah run out (Gul) 1
Mashrafe Mortaza b Asif 11
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 6
Abdur Razzak run out (Asif) 0
Syed Rasel not out 1
Extras (lb 2, w 7, nb 4): 13
Total (for nine wickets in 19.1 overs): 140
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Tamim Iqbal, 2.5 ov), 2-79 (Aftab Ahmed, 9.5 ov), 3-84 (Mohammad Ashraful, 10.3 ov), 4-86 (Shakib Al Hasan, 11.2 ov), 5-112 (Junaid Siddique, 14.1 ov), 6-119 (Nadif Chowdhury, 14.4 ov), 7-122 (Mahmudullah, 15.2 ov), 8-137 (Mashrafe Mortaza, 18.1 ov), 9-137 (Abdur Razzak, 18.2 ov)
Bowling:
Mohammed Asif 4-0-26-1 (2w)
Sohail Tanvir 3-0-27-0 (2nb, 3w)
Shahid Afridi 4-0-25-1
Mohammed Hafeez 3-0-28-2 (1w)
Umar Gul 3.1-0-17-0 (1nb)
Shoaib Malik 2-0-15-2 (1nb)
Pakistan:
Imran Nazir not out 27
Shahid Afridi c Rahim b Razzak 39
Mohammed Hafeez c Tamim Iqbal b Syed Rasel 23
Salman Butt run out 21
Younis Khan st Rahim b Razzak 1
Shoaib Malik c Ahmed b Mahmudullah 21
Misbah-ul-Haq lbw Mortaza 1
Kamran Akmal not out 3
Extras (lb 1, w 3, nb 1): 5
Total (for 6 wickets in 19 overs): 141
Fall of wickets: 1-59 (Hafeez, 5.5 overs), 2-66 (Afridi, 6.6), 3-69 (Younis, 8.1), 4-102 (Malik, 14.3), 5-106 (Misbah, 15.2), 6-119 (Butt, 16.4)
Bowling:
Mashrafe Mortaza 4-0-45-1 (1w)
Syed Rasel 3-0-34-1 (1nb)
Abdur Razzak 4-0-16-2 (1w)
Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-17-0
Mahmudullah 4-0-28-1 (1w)
Result: Pakistan won by four wickets
Toss Pakistan (chose to field)
Points: Pakistan 2
Man of the Match: Junaid Siddique (Bangladesh)
Umpires: Tony Hill (New Zealand) and Ian Howell (South Africa) TV umpire Asad Rauf (Pakistan)
Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa)