ODI World Cup 2023: Pakistan vs Bangladesh, 31st ODI - Who Said What?

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets to keep themselves alive in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. After a brilliant bowling display, openers Abdullah Shafique and the returning Fakhar Zaman played some brilliant cricket to seal the deal for the Men in Green. Right from the start, they played an attacking brand of cricket and it definitely helped Pakistan better their Net Run Rate.

Meanwhile, nothing went in Bangladesh’s favour. Shaheen Shah Afridi dominated with the new ball while Mohammad Wasim Jr. was phenomenal towards the fag end to bundle out Bangladesh for 204 runs. Mahmudullah hit 56 runs and was fighting well along with Litton Das. However, after their dismissals, things started to go south as Pakistani bowlers dominated. 

Pakistan pacers dominating

Pakistan pacers had a terrific day at Eden Gardens. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr picked up three wickets each, while Haris Rauf picked up two wickets to bundle out Bangladesh for a cheap total. Notably, Afridi looked at his absolute best as he made the ball talk in the initial overs.

Pakistan openers finally clicking

Imam-ul-Haq was benched as Fakhar Zaman was brought in for the match against Bangladesh, and the 33-year-old lived up to the expectations. Along with Abdullah Shafique, he stitched a 128-run partnership, which helped Pakistan get over the line rather easily.

Bangladesh’s misery continues

Be it with the bat or with the ball, Bangladesh looked pale throughout. Mahmaudullah was the lone fighter, just like most of the matches, but once again, he couldn’t convert his half-century. Litton, too, looked good, but that was not enough in a do-or-die situation. When it comes to bowlers, they weren’t just good enough and with that, Bangladesh are officially out of the ODI World Cup 2023.

Losing skipper 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.

Winning skipper 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.

POTM Fakhar Zaman said:

After the Asia Cup, I practiced a lot on my batting, I was looking good at the camp and was looking forward to making it to the team. Today, my hard work paid off after I was given a chance. I told Abdullah that I will see off the first few overs, I knew I could hit big sixes. My role is to make it easy for my partner, so it was important to see off the first few overs and then play my shots. NRR was in our mind after we reached 100, the aim was to finish it off in 30 overs. I had too many failures, I was looking towards such a knock and hopefully I'll make bigger scores in the next few games.