‘With these rules, you have one very poor game and you battle to recover’: Mickey Arthur slams use of net run-rate as Pakistan eliminated from World Cup despite beating Bangladesh
- Pakistan needed to beat Bangladesh by 308 runs to reach World Cup semi-finals
- The placings in the table are currently decided on a team’s net run-rate
- Coach Mickey Arthur believes they should be adjusted with number of wins first
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur criticised the World Cup regulations after his side missed out on the semi-finals to New Zealand on net run-rate.
The Pakistanis needed to bowl Bangladesh out for seven at Lord’s after scoring 315 for nine, thanks to 100 for Imam-ul-Haq and 96 for Babar Azam.
Bangladesh managed 221, with 19-year-old quick Shaheen Afridi taking six for 35 – Pakistan’s best figures at a World Cup.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur believes the World Cup regulations should be changed
That left Pakistan level on points with New Zealand, and only one behind England, both of whom they beat.
It meant they paid for an early washout against Sri Lanka in Bristol. Just as importantly, they could not repair the damage to their net run-rate caused by their opening-match hammering by West Indies.
‘It should be amount of wins first, then head-to-head results,’ said Arthur. ‘Then if three teams are altogether, net run-rate can sort it out. With these rules, you have one very poor game and you battle to recover.’
Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals due to a lower net run-rate than New Zealand
As for Bangladesh, they managed only three wins, but have contributed richly to the World Cup, pulling off its biggest run-chase when they made 322 for three to beat West Indies at Taunton. Their fans have been irrepressible.
Here at Lord’s, left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman took a second successive five-wicket haul and finished with 20 in all – second only to Australia’s Mitchell Starc.
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan’s 64 was his seventh score of 50 or more, equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s World Cup record, set in 2003. Shakib’s final haul of 606 has been bettered only twice at World Cups – by Tendulkar (673) and Matthew Hayden (659 in 2007). He also took 11 wickets with his left-arm spin.
‘He’s been absolutely beautiful,’ said Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza. ‘He is one of the best all-time performers at a World Cup.’