Shadab Khan took three wickets and then scored the winner as Pakistan beat the Netherlands by six wickets with six more to go on Sunday, finally sealing a victory in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Pakistan lost a last-ball thriller in their tour opener against arch-rivals India and were upset by Zimbabwe before a crushing win over the Dutch to start a Group 2 double-header in Perth. India won the toss and chose to bat against South Africa in the night match.
Bangladesh went on to beat Zimbabwe by three runs in the previous Group 2 match in Brisbane after a dramatic over that produced two wickets and an unusual no-ball that meant the last delivery had to be re-bowled.
In the Western Australian capital, Pakistan’s pace attack restricted the Netherlands to 91-9, with Shadab taking 3-22 and Mohammad Wasim Jr. which turned 2-15.
Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat but could not cope with Pakistan’s fast bowlers and quickly fell to 26-3.
Colin Ackermann (27) tried to rebuild the innings but Shadab ran into the middle order and Wasim Jr. he almost missed his hat-trick towards the end. He had dismissed Tim Pringle (5) and Fred Klaassen (0) dismissed in successive balls.
Only two Dutch players scored in double figures.
Pakistan responded with a quiet batting and overturned runs in 13.5 overs, finishing on 95-4.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 49 off 39 balls, combining with Fakhar Zaman (20) for a 37-run second stand after Pakistan captain Babar Azam (4) was run out.
Pakistan didn’t seem to be in any rush to wrap up proceedings, with Rizwan dismissed just in sight of the finish line and missing out on his half-century. Shan Masood (12) was also out before Pakistan completed the formalities with Shadab’s boundary to mid-on.
“The last two games, we didn’t finish the games well,” Shadab said. “Today, we finished it.”
Pakistan are fifth in the Group 2 standings, and the Netherlands have been eliminated from the competition after three consecutive defeats at the Super 12 stage.
Bangladesh, with four points from three matches, edged past Zimbabwe with a narrow win in warm and sunny conditions.
A dramatic over at the Gabba produced two wickets and an unusual ball that meant the final delivery had to be re-bowled.
Opener Najmul Hossain Shanto scored 71 off 55 balls in Bangladesh’s total of 150-7.
Taskin Ahmed (3-19) and Mustafizur Rahman (2-15) combined to bowl out Zimbabwe’s top order but ended their complete stand three overs away, leaving a chase of 40 off 18 balls.
Sean Williams (64) and Ryan Burl (27 not out) came close but could not get Zimbabwe through.
Spinner Musaddek Hossain held his nerve twice, especially after the players retreated to the field to re-bowl the last delivery and helped restrict Zimbabwe to 147-8.
The Bangladesh players celebrated early when Musaddek appeared to close out the last over with back-to-back dismissals.
But replays showed wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan took the ball in front of the stumps before clearing the bails to complete the dismissal of Blessing Muzarabani.
The players shook hands and left the field as the referees waited to assess the TV replays, which showed the goalkeeper’s mistake and meant everyone had to go back. Muzarabani could not take advantage of the second chance, not scoring any of the four runs needed for victory.
“It was a new experience for us! Musaddek played very well in this pressure situation,” he said. “It was a little nerve-wracking to be honest, but we believed we could do it.”
