STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsBangladesh, in desperate need of a win, were up against South Africa who were coming into this match on the back of two successive wins. Electing to field first, which isn’t a surprise this edition, the South African pacer Kagiso Rabada was on a roll. A Shakib Al Hasan-less Bangladesh batting line up looked pale and Rabada pounced on it to bag three wickets inside the powerplay. There on, Bangladesh were just accumulating as many runs as possible. But, regular wickets saw them post only 84 runs before losing all their 10 wickets. Chasing a paltry total, South Africa were off to a similar start as they lost three wickets in the powerplay. But, there was no scoreboard pressure. They chased the target in 13.3 overs and won their third consecutive game.
Yet another game for Pakistan and yet another Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan show. Batting first for the first time in this edition of the World Cup, Pakistan posted 189/2, thanks to their stupendous opening pair of Babar and Rizwan. The pair registered their second century partnership of this edition. Babar scored his third fifty of the edition as he scored 70 off 49 balls before his dismissal and his opening partner remained not-out for his 79 off 50 balls. In reply, Pakistan bowlers were clinical. Though they didn’t bag tons of wickets, the fire bowling line up was too hot to handle for Namibia. In the end, all they could put up was 144 runs for the loss of five wickets in their full quota of 20 overs. Pakistan won comprehensively by 45 runs to march into the semi-final of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Here are some notable stats from Match 30 and 31:
Rabada’s flying start
Generally, Rabada is known for his wicket taking abilities during the death overs. However, it has been a different story in this edition of the World Cup. Out of the five wickets he has bagged this season, four of them have come inside the powerplay, including his three wickets today. He became the second South African bowler after Morne Morkel (4/14) against Afghanistan in 2010, to pick up three or more wickets inside the first six overs.
Bangladesh stoop to a low
The early jolts from Rabada inside the powerplay were too hard to cope up for the Bangladesh batsmen. In the absence of Shakib, their most experienced batter, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah suffered early exits. Hence, Bangladesh were down to 34 for five. In T20 World Cup matches, this is the lowest score for which Bangladesh have lost their fifth wicket. In overall T20Is, only once have they lost five wickets for lower score - 23/5 against Pakistan in Dhaka in 2011.
Faltered at the start
After losing half their side in the first eight overs, Bangladesh couldn’t accumulate as many runs as they would have wanted. Liton Das, stranded at one end, had scored 50 percent of the runs Bangladesh had scored in the first half. At 40/5 in the first 10 overs, Bangladesh registered their lowest score in this phase in T20 WC. Also, this is the lowest score to which South Africa have restricted a team in the first 10 overs in T20 WC.
Nasum Ahmed joins an unwanted list
Nasum had hit two sixes against England in the 19th over of the innings to propel Bangladesh to score over 120. However, in this match against South Africa, he had another 1.4 overs still to go before he smashed his own stumps to be adjudged hit-wicket. In the T20 WC, he became the second batsman to be dismissed through this mode after David Obuya (Kenya) in 2007 against New Zealand.
The most prolific pair
Pakistan have won four out of four this edition. By virtue of it, they are the first team to qualify to the semi-finals. A big reason behind their success has been the continued dominance of the most prolific pair - Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Heading into this World Cup, the pair had posted over 700 runs at an average of 56.6. In this edition, with two century partnerships, including today, the pair went on to become the first duo to post 1000 partnership runs in a calendar year of T20I.
To add on their 2021 glory run, the pair posted their seventh 50+ stand this year, which is also the most for a duo. Out of those seven, five of them have been century partnerships. No other pair in a calendar year has had more than two.
It doesn’t end there, the duo of Babar and Rizwan now have the most century partnerships for any pair in T20Is. They went past Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma’s and Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson's tally of four.
Babar surpasses Kohli once again
At the peak of his form, Babar is breaking every record set by Virat Kohli in T20Is. In his previous match, he became the fastest to 1000 T20I runs as captain and in this match against Namibia, he broke another record. In 27 innings as Pakistan skipper, Babar now has 14 scores of over 50, which is now the most 50+ scores by a captain in T20Is. He went past Kohli’s record of 13.
That’s not it, by scoring three fifties in four innings played this edition, Babar now has the most 50+ scores by a captain in an edition of the World Cup. Also, he has become the first Pakistan batsman to hit three 50+ scores in a T20 World Cup edition.
