ICC World Cup 2023, PAK vs BAN: Pakistan knock Bangladesh out of World Cup

Opener Fakhar Zaman capped his return with an attacking fifty after Shaheen Shah Afridis fiery spell as Pakistan knocked Bangladesh out of the World Cup with a sevenwicket win to keep their slim semifinal hopes alive here on TuesdayShaheen spearheaded their threepronged pace attack with splendid figures of 91233 as Pakistan bundled out Bangladesh for a lowly 204 in 451 oversFakhar who missed five of their six matches because of a knee injury smashed seven sixes and three fours in his 74ball 81 Abdullah Shafique also struck a quick 68 off 69 balls 9x4 2x6 as the newlook opening pair laid the foundation with an imposing 128run allianceAlso Read ICC World Cup 2023 PAK vs BAN Bengal Tigers set a target of 205 runsJust when it looked like a oneway traffic for Pakistan offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz 360 took both the openers but with no scoreboard pressure Pakistan knocked off the paltry 205run target in 323 oversThis was Bangladeshs sixth loss on the trot as the Shakib Al Hasanled side became the first team to be officially eliminated from the 10team global showpiece with two matches in handThey next play Sri Lanka and Australia in their last two matchesHaving returned to winning ways after enduring four defeats Pakistan with three wins from seven matches kept their faint semifinal hopes alive They next take on New Zealand before concluding their league campaign against EnglandPakistans new leftright handed opening duo started off with utmost caution conceding two maiden off Bangladeshs new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed in first three oversBut that was it as the Pakistani duo soon started milking the attack and raced to 52 for no loss inside the powerplayThe duo soon switched gears with Zaman smoking Taskin Ahmed over square leg for a 99metre six There was no stopping them and Shaifque took on Mustafizur Rahman for three successive boundariesZaman brought up his 16th ODI halfcentury in 51 balls when he stepped up to Bangla pacer Taskin with a massive six down the ground In the previous over Shafique took 51 balls to get to his third halfcenturyZaman however missed out on a welldeserved century holing out at midwicket to give Mehidy his third wicketSkipper Babar Azam however continued to disappoint getting out for 9 16b when he mistimed a shot off MirazBut Mohammad Rizwan 26 not out and Iftikhar Ahmed 17 not out finished off the chase with 107 balls to spareEarlier Shaheen rattled the Bangladeshi toporder and became the fastest Pakistani to reach 100 ODI wickets Mohammad Wasim Jr then cleaned up the tail returning with figures of 811313 as Bangladesh failed to last the distance yet again to be bowled out in 451 oversShaheen may have lost his pace a bit after recovering from a knee injury but he bowled with clever variations and extracted swing on a flat Eden wicketThe 23yearold straightway got into the action trapping Tanzid Hasan leg before wicket with extra bounce and late swing That happened to be his 100th wicket in ODIs He became the fastest Pakistani to do so beating Saqlain Mushtaqs mark by a couple of inningsA brilliant low diving catch by Usama Mir at forward short leg made it two in two overs for ShaheenIt would have been worse for Bangladesh but Mahmudullah made a responsible 56 off 70 balls 6x4 1x6 in a 79run partnership with Litton Das 45 64bFrom 62 in 24 overs Bangladesh were looking at yet another capitulation when Haris Rauf dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim to reduce them to 233 before Mahmudullah came to his teams rescueThe intent was clear from the Bangladesh perspective as they promoted Mahmudullah to No 5After Shaheen was taken off the attack Pakistan also failed to build pressure from both ends giving Litton and Mahmudullah enough opportunity to make a quick recoveryThe likes of Wasim Jr and Mir who impressed with their tidy show against South Africa gave a lot of freebies and the Bangladeshi duo was happy to pierce the gapsThey welcomed Wasim Jr with a couple of boundaries while Mir too was hit for a four in his first overBangladesh were looking in no trouble before offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed 144 provided the crucial breakthrough dismissing LittonShaheen was recalled and bowling around the wicket he produced a gem of a delivery to end Mahmudullahs stay in the middleSkipper Shakib Al Hasan then tried to forge a partnership but frittered away his start and was done in by a short ball from by Haris Raul 236This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever