Pakistan’s team knocked out Bangladesh, led by Shakib-Al-Hasan, from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Tuesday after the Babar Azam-led side defeated Bangladesh in the 31st match of the World Cup 2023 by 7 wickets at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. Shakib-Al-Hasan led Bangladesh became the first side to be eliminated from the quadrennial tournament. Pakistan jumped two spots in the points tally and overtook Afghanistan and Sri Lanka to secure the 5th position on the points table.
Pakistan finally ended their 4-match losing streak and is still alive in the race to qualify for the semi-finals; however, they still have a long way to go. As for Bangladesh, they only have formalities left with two matches to play against Sri Lanka and Australia. On Tuesday, Bangladesh only managed to score 204 runs in 45.1 overs. Pakistan saw the opportunity to improve their poor net run rate and did so by chasing down the target in just 32.2 overs with the loss of 3 wickets. They still have a negative net run rate (NRR), but nevertheless, it’s better than that of the bottom 5 teams.
Pakistani Bowlers Bowled with Venom against Bangladesh
What was expected from the Pakistani bowling unit from the start of the tournament, they delivered the same after quite a long time. The Men in Green’s ace pacer, Shaheen Shah Afridi, struck early in the game, dismissing Bangladeshi southpaw opener Tanzid Hasan for a duck in the 4th delivery of the first over. By trapping Tanzid LBW, Shaheen completed his 100th ODI wicket in 51 matches, becoming the fastest pacer and the 3rd fastest bowler to do so. The 23-year-old left-handed pacer, in his next over, took his 101st ODI wicket by sending Najmul Hossain Shanto back to the hut. Mushfiqur Rahim also fell cheaply for 5, dismissed by Haris Rauf.
However, then came the crucial partnership for Bangladesh as veteran batsman Mahmudullah and opener Litton Das formed a 79-run partnership for the 4th wicket. Litton threw his wicket away on 45 to Iftikhar Ahmed in the 21st over of the innings. Approximately 10 overs later, Mahmudullah became the third victim of Shaheen, who bowled out the set batsman on 56.
Pakistani spinner Usama Mir, who replaced Shadab Khan in the playing XI, picked up the wicket of Towhid Hridoy. A brief partnership of 45 runs between Shakib-Al-Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz was broken by Rauf, who dismissed Shakib-Al-Hasan for 43.
Pakistani pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr. picked up the last three wickets of the Bangladesh team, dismissing Mehidy, Taskin Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman. All Pakistani bowlers clinched at least one wicket. Shaheen ended up with figures of 9-1-23-3, while Wasim recorded bowling figures of 8.1-1-31-3. Haris Rauf also recorded figures of 8-0-36-2.
Openers Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique Light Up the Eden Gardens
Opener Fakhar Zaman got the opportunity in place of the out-of-form Imam-ul-Haq in the team, and the southpaw batsman seized the opportunity with both hands. He played a match-winning knock of 81 runs off 74 balls, with the help of 3 fours and 7 sixes.
Fakhar became the first Pakistani batter to hit three sixes within the first 12 overs of an ODI since 2005. Moreover, the 33-year-old Fakhar became the second Pakistani batsman to hit the most sixes in a World Cup innings after Imran Nazir, who smashed 8 sixes against Zimbabwe in the 2007 World Cup.
Abdullah Shafique provided good support and scored an impressive 68 runs off 69 balls, with the help of 9 fours and 2 sixes. Both attacking openers formed a 128-run opening partnership, which became the fourth-highest opening partnership for Pakistan in WCs.
Additionally, it was the first century opening stand for Pakistan against Bangladesh in ODIs since April 2012. However, both batsmen were sent back to the pavilion by Mehidy Hasan. Babar Azam disappointed once again and was dismissed for 9 by Mehidy Hasan, who picked up his third wicket of the day. Nevertheless, Mohammad Rizwan (26 off 21) and Iftikhar (17 off 15) chased down the target of 205 in 32.3 overs.
We are Not Getting Many Runs from the Top Four Batsmen – Shakib-Al-Hasan
After the match, the losing captain, Shakib-Al-Hasan, in the post-match presentation, reckoned that insufficient runs were scored, attributed the wicket’s quality, and expressed his disappointment with early wicket losses. He gave credit to Pakistan for their exceptional bowling and solid batting in the initial 10 overs.
Regarding his batting position, Shakib-Al-Hasan mentioned that they would need to contemplate changes, as the top four batsmen weren’t contributing enough, including himself. He noted that his confidence was low but felt better after getting some runs. He also highlighted the importance of not making too many changes at this point and emphasized the need for a collective team performance.
“Not enough runs, The wicket was really good, we lost early wickets again. There were some partnerships, but not big partnerships. Disappointing with the bat. Credit should go to Pakistan, the way they bowled and the way they batted in the first 10 overs,” said Shakib-al-Hasan.
“(On his batting position) We’ll have to think about that. We are not getting many runs from the top four batsmen. I was batting in the top four, I wasn’t scoring. My confidence was low too. Luckily I got some runs, felling better now,” he stated.
“At this moment, changing too many things gets difficult. We have to keep moving forward. We have to perform together. We need collective performance, which is not happening. Two more matches, hopefully we can bounce back. Everywhere we go, they (fans) keep supporting us. We have to give something back to them so they can smile,” he added.