T20 WORLD CUP: PAKISTAN REBOUNDED FROM A POOR START TO REACH THE SEMI-FINALS AFTER BEATING BANGLADESH

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in their last group encounter to get to the T20 World Cup semifinals here on Sunday.

Earlier, Pakistan limited Bangladesh to 127/8 in 20 overs, with Shaheen Shah Afridi returning with figures of 4/22. Bangladesh's sole bright spot with the bat was Najmul Hassan Shanto, who hit a fifty. Shakib's expulsion was fraught with controversy, as he was thrown out LBW despite the fact that the replays appeared to show an inside edge.

Pakistan were on the verge of an early exit from the competition following losses to India and Zimbabwe in the Super 12 stage when fancied South Africa were knocked out by Netherlands, who had earlier achieved a famous 13-run triumph at the same stadium.

Choosing to bat, Bangladesh got off to a flying start, with Najmul Hossain Shanto hitting a counter-attacking 48-ball 54, but lacked the finishing touch as Pakistan rode on pacer Shaheen Afridi's best T20I statistics of 4 for 22 to limit their opponents to a paltry total of 172 for eight. Off-spinner Iftikhar outwitted Shanto by bowling a slower one.

After Pakistan lost both openers, Babar Azam (25) and Mohammad Rizwan (32) in short succession, Mohammad Haris produced an important 18-ball 31 in the middle.

Iftikhar recorded figures of 3-0-15-1 as Babar's strategy of attacking with the off-spinner against left-handed Bangladesh batting worked.