Google News ICC World Cup 2023| 31st Match: Pakistan claims a comfortable win against Bangladesh
by ARYAN LAKHANI
Anything can happen in this World Cup! Pakistan finally ended their 4-match losing streak; they are not out of the tournament. With the recent win, their hopes remain alive. Bangladesh won the toss in today's match and chose to bat first.
Shaheen Afridi struck the Bangladeshi batting line up since the very first over. Pakistan's bowling was absolutely flawless; by picking up wicket after wicket, they put a lot of pressure on Bangladesh's batting line up. At one point, it looked like Bangladesh would score a defendable total of 250 runs, but Pakistan's excellent bowling restricted Bangladesh to a low total of 204 runs (204-10), setting a target of 205 runs for Pakistan.
In the 2nd Innings, Pakistan made no mistake and unleashed power mode. Fakhar Zaman's return looks like a very positive sign for the team.
Bangladesh picked up 3 wickets, but it was too late as Pakistan's run rate was very high, and they easily chased down the target in 32.3 overs (205-3). Thus, Pakistan won the match by 7 wickets and keep their chances of qualifying to the semi-finals alive!
Post Match interviews
Babar Azam (Pakistan's Captain)
"All credit to the boys the way we played in all three departments," Azam said as quoted by cricbuzz.com. "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 (Bangladesh's Captain)
"Not enough runs, The wicket was really good, we lost early wickets again," Shakib said, as quoted by cricbuzz.com. "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".