ICC World Cup 2019: Match 43, PAK v BAN – Pakistan Player Ratings

The miracle that Pakistan was hoping for in their final league game didn’t turn out to be a reality. Thus, their hopes of repeating the heroics of the 1992 World Cup were shredded into pieces. Pakistan was lucky with the toss and they had an opportunity to bat first. However, they couldn’t get as massive a total that they wanted to fancy a chance.

Imam-ul-Haq was great on the day with a brilliant hundred. Babar Azam also played some fabulous cricket but fell inches short of yet another World Cup ton. Mohammad Hafeez and Imad Wasim made valuable contributions to steer the team to 315/9 in 50 overs. Mustafizur Rahman, once again, picked up a five-wicket haul in the innings.

Bangladesh only had to score 7 runs in the chase to knock their opponents out of the tournament. While they managed to do that, they couldn’t complete the chase. Thus, they had to exit from the World Cup on a disappointing note. Shakib Al Hasan registered yet another fifty and was the best performer for his team. The team, however, was bowled out for 221 and lost the match by 94 runs. Shaheen Afridi was exceptional with the ball.

Here are the Pakistan Player Ratings for the match

Imam-ul-Haq – 9/10

Imam-ul-Haq finally converted his start into a big score and registered a great hundred in this game. However, he didn’t respond to the team’s call and scored 100 runs off 100 balls. While ideally, he should have looked to score at a better pace, it was a great knock nevertheless. The left-hander hit 7 fours in his knock.

Fakhar Zaman – 1/10

Pakistan was in pursuit of a score anywhere around 400. The pitch was good to bat early on. However, Fakhar Zaman made a complete mess and ended the tournament on a dismal note. The Pakistan opener crawled his way to 13 runs off 31 balls and didn’t help the team in any way with this snail knock.

Babar Azam – 9/10

Babar Azam put up his class and elegance on display once again in the tournament. The Pakistan number three took the responsibility and played a gem of a knock. However, he was unfortunate to have missed out on a well-deserved century. Azam was dismissed for 96 runs and he hit 11 fours during his knock.

Mohammad Hafeez – 3.5/10

There were no fireworks from Mohammad Hafeez in his final World Cup game. He did show great intent but couldn’t go on to get a huge score. The 38-year-old scored 27 runs off 25 balls and looked good as long as he was out in the middle. But, once again in the tournament, he threw his wicket away leading to disappointment. Hafeez bowled 6 overs with the ball where he conceded 32 runs.

Haris Sohail – 1/10

Haris Sohail had a few overs left in the innings by the time he got out. While it would have been great had he capitalised and pushed his team’s score further, he couldn’t do so. He got out to Mustafizur Rahman after scoring 6 runs at run-a-ball.

Imad Wasim – 6/10

It was quite surprising to see Imad Wasim raise his bat as he walked off after scoring 43 runs. However, his knock which came off just 26 balls was quite valuable. He helped push Pakistan’s total over 300 runs. Wasim bowled 6 overs with the ball and conceded 26 runs.

Sarfaraz Ahmed – 2/10

Sarfaraz Ahmed was standing at the non-striker’s end when Imad Wasim absolutely smashed a ball straight towards him. The Pakistan skipper didn’t have much time to react and was hit hard. He looked to be in pain and walked off the field after scoring 3 runs. He was good with his captaincy and took one catch behind the stumps and affected one stumping.

Wahab Riaz – 5/10

Wahab Riaz had a decent outing in this game. He bowled 7 overs where he conceded 33 runs. The left-arm pacer even accounted for the wicket of the dangerous Mushfiqur Rahim when he was batting on 16.

Shadab Khan – 7/10

Even though he was expensive, Shadab Khan had a really good outing. The leg-spinner picked up the wickets of Mosaddek Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza. However, in the 9 overs that he bowled, he conceded 59 runs at an economy rate of 6.60.

Mohammad Amir – 5/10

The performance of Mohammad Amir was quite identical to that of Wahab. Amir also bowled tight lines and lengths and was quite economical. He provided Pakistan with the first breakthrough in the game by dismissing Soumya Sarkar for 22 runs.

Shaheen Afridi – 10/10

Young Shaheen Afridi had a dream outing in this game and he will remember this performance for a long, long time. He became the youngest bowler ever to pick up a five-wicket haul in a World Cup game. Moreover, his figures of 6/33 in this match were the best for a Pakistan bowler in World Cup cricket. Given the kind of struggles he’s faced a few weeks ago, the last few performances would have come as a huge relief for the 19-year-old.