Pakistan beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

Openers Imran Nazir (72) and skipper Mohammad Hafeez (45) came out all guns blazing as Pakistan comfortably chased Bangladesh's 175-6 with 1.2 overs to spare in yesterday's crucial World T20 encounter.

Imran Nazir

Going into the match, Bangladesh needed to beat Pakistan by at least 36 runs in order to qualify for the Super Eights. They also had to re-write a bit of history, considering they had never beaten Pakistan in an international for 13 years since the 1999 World Cup. And given Shakib Al Hasan's career-best 54-ball 84, Bangladesh seemed on the right track having opted to bat first.

Nazir and Hafeez however, had other ideas. Nazir's 36-ball knock included nine fours and three sixes, while Hafeez slammed six fours as the hapless Bangladeshi bowlers were hammered to all corners of the Pallekele International Stadium.u00a0

Mohammad Hafeez

Earlier, besides Shakib, the other key contributors with the bat for Bangladesh were Tamim Iqbal (24) and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (25) as Pakistan erred in the field, dropping as many as three catches. Pacer Yasir Arafat was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers, with 3-25 off his three overs while star spinner Saeed Ajmal conceded 32 runs off his four overs.

Brief scores
Bangladesh 175 for six in 20 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 84; Yasir Arafat 3/25) lost to Pakistan 178 for two in 18.4 overs (Imran Nazir 72, Mohammad Hafeez 45; Abul Hasan 2/33) by 8 wicketsu00a0