Pakistan has relied on ‘qudrat ka nizam’ on many an occasion. The most memorable one was in the 1992 World Cup. If not for a washout against England, where Pakistan was dismissed for just 74, the Men in Green wouldn’t have qualified for the semifinal over Australia, and naturally wouldn’t have lifted their only ODI trophy.
While ‘nature’ has helped Pakistan, more often than not, they haven’t been able to help themselves. In the must-win match against Sri Lanka, where they had to win by a massive margin to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal, Pakistan couldn’t get across the line.
Collapse in the end
Despite being 177/1 in 16 overs, Pakistan scored just 35 runs in the remaining 4 overs and lost 8 wickets. Considering their run rate was over 11, you’d expect them to score at least 10 more runs. But the exact opposite happened. This meant Pakistan had to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 or fewer to qualify.
Selection woes
Selection came to bite them back here. Pakistan dropped Saim Ayub, someone who has taken the same number of wickets as Shadab Khan. They needed wickets, and they didn’t select an all-rounder who delivered 4 overs almost every game and could spin the ball both ways. This resulted in Sri Lanka reaching the 150-run mark by the end of the 16th over and them getting knocked out.
Shadab wasn’t bowled until the 15th over, and then he went for 16 runs in that over. Khawaja Nafay, who was brought in for Ayub, scored 2 (3) and doesn’t bowl. Usman Tariq and Mohammad Nawaz struggled as well, and that settled the outcome long before Sri Lanka actually crossed the 148-run mark.
But Sri Lanka didn’t stop there. Dasun Shanaka went berserk, scoring 76 (31). This included hitting 35 runs in the last 2 overs. Shanaka was just 1 six away from victory, but unfortunately couldn’t get his team across the line as Pakistan won by 5 runs.
T20 World Cup 2026: Semifinals
- 1st: South Africa/West Indies/India vs New Zealand
- 2nd: England vs South Africa/West Indies/India
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