Despite losing by five wickets to England in the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, Pakistan’s pace unit has received praise in the cricket fraternity for its outstanding performance.
Pakistani bowlers gave the strong batting line of England a tough time while defending a small target of 137 runs. At one point, the Men in Green appeared to be on the verge of claiming their second T20 World Cup title.
Pakistan’s right-arm pacer, Naseem Shah, dominated the show, as his performance, along with that of death overs specialist, Haris Rauf, has been outstanding throughout the marquee event.
The Dir-born cricketer’s last two overs in the World Cup games were incredible, as he bowled 14 overs in seven matches and conceded 71 runs at a brilliant 5.07 economy rate, including two wickets.
In the opening encounter against India, which was decided on the last ball of the match, Naseem Shah conceded 18 runs in his last two overs when Virat Kohli was batting.
Naseem’s most expensive spell came in the match against Zimbabwe, in which the Men in Green lost by one run, and he got hit for 18 runs in the final two overs. The match almost knocked Pakistan out of the tournament.
In the must-win game against South Africa, he bowled two overs, conceding five runs and taking one crucial wicket, while against Bangladesh, he conceded eight runs in his final two overs.
Naseem was at his best during the semi-final against New Zealand, bowling two overs and conceding 12 runs. Although he did not take a wicket, his bowling was absolutely brilliant.
The 19-year-old’s death overs spell in the final against England will be remembered for a long time because he only conceded 5 runs as required run rate for the opposition climbed from six to eight runs an over.
Here’s a breakdown of Naseem’s death overs spells.
| Opposition | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| India | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 18 | 0 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| South Africa | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| England | 2 | 5 | 0 |
