PAK vs CAN: Pakistan defeated Canada by 7 wickets with 15 balls to spare. It was very important for Pakistan to win this match to keep the Super-8 hopes alive. Canada scored 106 runs while playing first and Aaron Johnson scored the most runs from their team. Johnson played an innings of 52 runs in 44 balls and made a significant contribution to Canada crossing the score of 100 runs. At the same time, when the Pakistani team came out to chase the target, Sam Ayub was out early, but the 63-run partnership between captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan ensured the victory of the Pak team. Babar Azam scored 33 runs and Mohammad Rizwan played an unbeaten innings of 53 runs.
Pakistan had a target of 107 runs. In this match, Sam Ayub was given a chance in place of Iftikhar Ahmed, who was out after scoring just 6 runs. In the second innings, it seemed very difficult to score runs on this pitch, so the team was able to score only 28 runs in the first 6 overs. Captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan took the responsibility and together they took the team’s score to 59 runs in 10 overs. Babar and Rizwan’s partnership was taking Canada away from victory. Babar was set at the crease, but in the 15th over, while trying to play a shot towards third-man, he got caught by the keeper. He scored 33 runs. The situation was such that Pakistan had to score 22 runs to win in the last 5 overs. 11 runs came in the 16th over, due to which Pakistan’s victory was just a formality. Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan completed his fifty in 52 balls under pressure. When the team needed 3 runs to win, Fakhar Zaman was out on a score of 4. Eventually, while running for a double run, Usman Khan hit the winning shot for Pakistan.
Pakistan keeps Super 8 hopes alive
Let us tell you that Pakistan had earlier suffered defeat against USA and India. If it had to keep its hopes alive of reaching the Super-8 of the T20 World Cup 2024, then it was necessary to win over Canada at all costs. From here, if the Pak team wants to improve its hopes of reaching the Super-8, then it will have to defeat Ireland in its next match. Apart from this, it will also have to hope that USA loses both its next matches. After this victory, Pakistan has come to third place in the standings of Group A.
Also read: