Kolkata, Nov 1: Pakistan knocked Bangladesh out of the ODI World Cup with a seven-wicket win here on Tuesday.The former champions first dismissed Bangladesh for 204 and then returned to overhaul the target, reaching 205 for 3 in 32.3 Overs for their third win of the tournament.
Abdullah Shafique (68) and Fakhar Zaman (81) slammed fifties and once they were dismissed, Mohammad Rizwan (26) and Iftikar Ahmed (17) knocked off the remaining runs.
Opting to bat, Mahmudullah made a 70-ball 56 but Bangladesh couldn’t get any momentum as they lost wickets regularly.
Litton Das (45), Mahmudullah (56), Shakib Al Hasan (43) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (25) were the other batters to reach double figures.
For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi (3/23) and Mohammad Wasim Jr (3/31) were the most successful bowlers with three-wicket hauls, while Haris Rauf (2/36), Iftikhar Ahmed (1/44) and Usama Mir (1/66) were also among wickets.
Babar Azam, said, All credit to the boys the way we played in all three departments. We know, if Fakhar bats for 20-30 overs, it’s a different ball game, he played his natural game. Good to see him. We are trying to win the next two matches, we’ll see where we stand. We started well, the way Shaheen started. After 15-20 overs, they built a partnership, our main bowlers picked wickets. We picked wickets in the middle overs. Thank you (fans) so much for the support.
Shakib Al Hasan, said, 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. (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. 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.