Debutant Junaid Siddique's sparkling 71 went in vain as a lackadaisical Pakistan, with a ticket to the semifinal in their pocket, tamed Bangladesh by four wickets.
CAPE TOWN: Debutant Junaid Siddique's sparkling 71 went in vain as a lackadaisical Pakistan, with a ticket to the semifinal in their pocket, tamed Bangladesh by four wickets in an inconsequential match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup here on Thursday.
Junaid's 49-ball 71 was the hightlight of the Bangladesh innings after the minnows were inserted by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik. Bangladesh were all out for 140 runs with two more deilveries to go.
Chasing 141 for a win, Pakistan hardly looked convincing even though they managed to reach the target with one over to spare. Shahid Afridi, opening the innings, topscored with a 15-ball 39 that included two sixes and five boundaries, while Imran Nazir, hit in the groin by Mashrafe Mortaza's third delivery, returned to remain not out on 27.
After Nazir returned for treatment, Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez (23) were going great guns and the duo added 59 runs inside six overs when Syed rasel had Hafeez caught by Tamim Iqbal.
Hafeez, who made 23 off 21, was caught in the deep of Syed Rasel. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq got the vital wicket of Afridi as Pakistan slipped to 69 for three.
Pakistan lost three more wickets and slumped to 119 for six before Nazir and Butt saw them through.
Earlier, Bangladesh rode on the debutant opener Junaid Siddique's magnificient half century to post 140.
Junaid blitzed his way to a 49-ball 71 which included six boundaries and three sixes. But he did not get able support at the other end with Bangaldesh's next highest scorer Aftab Ahmed managing just 15.
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