Babar Azam ‘hopes’ India or South Africa slip up and give Pakistan the chance to make the T20 World Cup semi-finals after they kept their slim hopes alive with an impressive win over the Proteas.
Pakistan would have been eliminated had they lost to South Africa in Sydney but Babar’s side recovered from a poor start to clinch a 33-run DLS win.
They slipped to 43-4 in the seventh over after losing their top-four quickly, but brilliant fifties from Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed propelled Pakistan to 185-9.
Shaheen Afridi then took three wickets as Pakistan dominated South Africa’s batters in the rain-effected clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The win means Pakistan can still qualify for the knockout stages but need to beat Bangladesh in their final group game on Sunday and hope India lose to Zimbabwe or South Africa fail to beat Netherlands.
‘Cricket is funny game and you never know what can happen,’ Babar said. ‘Let’s hope for the best.’
The Pakistan captain added: ‘I am very happy the way the team performed and we were up to the mark.
‘The way Haris played shifted the momentum and carried it on. Shadab was outstanding and the way he finished the innings was also outstanding.
‘I think everyone is my best player. Everyone is always ready to play and when we decide the starting XI everyone is ready.
‘The first two matches we lost and they cost us but I think the way the team has played in the games they always give us 100%.’
South Africa had been one of the most impressive teams at the World Cup but were outplayed by Pakistan and now need to beat Netherlands to secure their place in the semi-finals.
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma said: ‘It is disappointing. The way we finished with our bowling and fielding, we had them five wickets down early but then allowed them to get that formidable score.
‘There are questions we to ask ourselves and come up with some answers going forward, but credit to them, they played well after the first 10 overs. They had the momentum then with the ball, and they carried it through.
‘We knew that the weather would be a bit of an issue, I’m not a bowler but I know they do practice when they can like with a wet ball, but it’s not an excuse.
‘We didn’t adapt well enough and we could have been smarter with the bigger boundary. There are no excuses, we have to learn from these things.
‘In our next game we’ve got the Netherlands in Adelaide, it’s a big game for us. We want to put this game behind us as quickly as possible and make sure we are back at our best mentally for that game.’
More to follow…
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