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Bangladesh were the first team to get eliminated from the 2023 World Cup following a horrendous outing with the bat against Pakistan in Kolkata on Tuesday.
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Having opted to bat first, the Tigers suffered a nightmare of a collapse after they were bundled out for 204.
In reply, Abdullah Shafique (68) and Fakhar Zaman (81) made light work of the chase, to give Pakistan another shot at the semi-finals.
The win also helped Pakistan end their four-match losing streak, whereas for Bangladesh, this was their sixth straight defeat that eventually confirmed their elimination from the World Cup.
There were several moments of brilliance from the match, including Shaheen Afridi’s spell and Fakhar Zaman’s resurgence.
Let’s take a look at few of the top moments from the game:
Shaheen Afridi’s dream start
Things started going downhill for Bangladesh ever since the early overs of the contest. Shaheen Afridi is someone who knows Bangladesh well as an opponent and has been successful against them.
On Tuesday, Shaheen struck early on two separate occasions. The first one was an LBW dismissal to see off Tanzid Hasan in the very first over, before getting rid of Najmul Hossain Shanto in the third over.
Shanto was caught by Usama Mir at short midwicket, after going for a mistimed flick shot.
Shaheen would go onto strike once again, in the 31st over, cleaning up the in-form Mahmudullah to crash Bangladesh’s hopes of a good total.
Shaheen finished with impressive figures of 2/23 from nine overs.
Mahmudullah-Litton Das stand
The only positive for Bangladesh largely came in the form of a 79-run stand between Mahmudullah and Litton Das for the fourth wicket. The Tigers were reeling at 23/3 in the sixth over, but Mahmudullah, who has by far been Bangladesh’s best batter this World Cup, carried his team once again.
Hitting both Mohammad Wasim Jr and Usama Mir for boundaries at regular intervals, Mahmudullah would go onto get to his fifty off 58 balls, before being dismissed by Shaheen Afridi.
Despite missing out on a fifty, Litton would still go onto play an aggressive knock of 45, where he ended up amassing six sixes.
Shakib-Mehidy stand
Just when things looked as though Bangladesh were about to collapse for a total below 200, captain Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz would fight back with a 45-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Shakib, who has not had the best of tournaments with the bat, would go onto make 43 runs off 64 deliveries, beforing getting a top-edge off the bat towards Agha Salman at midwicket, off Haris Rauf’s ball.
On the contrary, it was a rather silent cameo from Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was cleaned up by Mohammad Wasim Jr, after scoring just 25 runs, including a four and a six.
Fakhar Zaman is back
The biggest boost for Pakistan ahead of this match was Fakhar Zaman’s fitness. Fakhar was back in the playing XI for the first time since the Netherlands game in early October. He had been nursing a knee injury, due to which he missed the last six matches.
However, Tuesday witnessed the resurgence of Fakhar as he played with full freedom, to amass 81 runs off 74 balls.
Fakhar started off quite slow in the chase, but began attacking the opposition from the fifth over, when he slammed Taskin Ahmed over long leg for a maximum. He would go onto maintain this aggression, hitting the likes of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoriful Islam for boundaries, eventually bringing up his fifty in the 18th over.
With Zaman coming back to form, Pakistan may have finally realised what they have missed in the batting lineup, as they look to make a case for a semi-final spot.
Rizwan-Iftikhar seal the deal
The openers had set the platform for the chase, and after Fakhar was dismissed in the 28th over, the task was upto Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed to seal the chase.
The duo enjoyed a 36-run partnership, and both were equally aggressive. Rizwan would go onto hit Mustafizur Rahman for two consecutive fours in the 29th over, before cutting through deep point off Mehidy Hasan’s ball in the next over.
Iftikhar would play the supporting role from the other end, playing an unbeaten knock of 17 off 15 balls, as the duo fought off a late, mini fightback from Bangladesh after the Tigers had dismissed Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman in a space of two overs.
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