LAHORE (Daily Point) – Pakistan won comfortably against Bangladesh by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens, Kolkata after a star performance by pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Pakistan pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has become the fastest fast bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets globally, along with Mohammad Wasim, each took three wickets, limiting Bangladesh to a total of 204 runs.

Pakistan made early inroads into the opponent’s lineup by dismissing three top-order batsmen. However, opener Litton Das fought to contribute 45 runs off 64 deliveries before falling to Iftikhar Ahmed. Mahmudullah Riyad, in excellent form, struck a brilliant half-century, and Shakib Al Hasan added 46 runs in a middle-order partnership in an attempt to boost the total.

Mehidy Hassan Miraz, batting in the lower order, tried to bolster the score with his 25-run innings, but he lacked support from the other batsmen, who were dismissed for modest scores. Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first.

Pakistan’s World Cup campaign has been marred by numerous challenges, including underperformance, reports of unpaid salaries, and issues within the cricket board. While they started the tournament positively, they suffered losses to India, Australia, Afghanistan, and South Africa, leaving them with a poor net run-rate of -0.38.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh, struggling in the Cricket World Cup 2023, aimed to keep their mathematical chances alive after facing consecutive setbacks. Pakistan, led by Babar Azam, was on the brink of group-stage elimination in CWC 23 and needed a convincing victory against Bangladesh to maintain a slim hope of advancing to the semifinals.

Despite Bangladesh’s struggles and their position at the bottom of the points table, they still posed a challenge to Pakistan, having won four of their last six encounters. In historical ODI matchups, Pakistan has won 33 games and lost only five against Bangladesh, but recent form suggested a competitive contest.