KOLKATA– Opener Fakhar Zaman capped his return with an attacking fifty after Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fiery spell as Pakistan knocked Bangladesh out of the World Cup with a seven-wicket win to keep their slim semifinal hopes alive here on Tuesday.
Shaheen spearheaded their three-pronged pace attack with splendid figures of 9-1-23-3 as Pakistan bundled out Bangladesh for a lowly 204 in 45.1 overs.
Fakhar, who missed five of their six matches because of a knee injury, smashed seven sixes and three fours in his 74-ball 81. Abdullah Shafique also struck a quick 68 off 69 balls (9×4, 2×6) as the new-look opening pair laid the foundation with an imposing 128-run alliance.
Just when it looked like a one-way traffic for Pakistan, off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz (3/60) took both the openers but with no scoreboard pressure Pakistan knocked off the paltry 205-run target in 32.3 overs.
This was Bangladesh’s sixth loss on the trot as the Shakib Al Hasan-led side became the first team to be officially eliminated from the 10-team global showpiece with two matches in hand.
They next play Sri Lanka and Australia in their last two matches.
Having returned to winning ways after enduring four defeats, Pakistan with three wins from seven matches kept their faint semifinal hopes alive. They next take on New Zealand before concluding their league campaign against England.
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