PAK VS BAN MATCH 31

Right then, another game is done and dusted in the 2023 World Cup and Bangladesh are officially knocked out of the competition. Up next is a fairly crucial clash between two sides who have been in fine form in this tournament. It will be high-flying South Africa taking on a bit wounded New Zealand at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday, the 1st of November. That game will begin at 2 pm IST (8.30 am GMT) but as usual, you can join us much earlier for the build-up. Cheers!

The Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam starts by giving credit to the boys and says they did well in all three departments. On Fakhar Zaman, he says that they know when he plays for 20-30 overs, it's a different ball game and it was nice to see him perform here. Adds that they will try to win all the remaining matches and will see where they stand after that. Mentions that they started well with the ball and Shaheen Afridi did well to pick up a couple of early wickets but after 15-20 overs the opposition started to rebuild and they were still able to come back and pick up wickets in the later phase. On his fans in the ground, he gives thanks to them and ends by saying that it feels nice to play in front of such a crowd.

Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh says that they didn't have enough runs on the board. Adds that the wicket was good but they lost three wickets in the Powerplay and after that, there were a couple of partnerships but not a big one. Tells that they should have bowled a bit better but credits Pakistan for the way they bowled upfront and then chased it down. Mentions that him batting in the top order is a thing to be discussed later on but at the moment things are not working as their top order is not getting runs and the only thing they can do is play collectively as a team. Says that the fans have always supported them no matter what and they are hoping to bounce back in the next couple of games to put a smile on their faces.

Fakhar Zaman is the Player of the Match for his fiery 87 off just 74 balls that included 7 maximums. Zaman says that after the Asia Cup, he practiced a lot and was waiting to score runs for the team. Adds that he got the opportunity in this game and is happy with his performance. He says that he had a chat with Abdullah Shafique and backed himself to hit sixes irrespective of the wicket and this was a really good wicket to bat on. Mentions that net run rate (NRR) was always on their mind and they wanted to finish the game around 30 overs. Ends by saying that after a lot of failures, this feels good and the most important thing is that his runs helped the team to get the win.

The Presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first as he thought the pitch would slow down in the evening just like it did in their last game here but this decision backfired as they lost three early wickets. The repair work was done by Litton Das and Mahmudullah who seemed to be going along nicely but then Das got out and they had to rebuild yet again. Mahmudullah and the skipper, two veterans, tried their best but neither could get that big score and the tail was undone by some fast and furious bowling from the Pakistani quicks. Shaheen Afridi was the chief orchestrator up top as he showed once again why he is their best bowler and ended up with 3 wickets to take his tally to 16 wickets in the competition. Mohammad Wasim made full use of the opportunity provided to him and got the ball to reverse later on and ripped through the tail of Bangladesh. Coming to the chase, it was fairly straightforward and Pakistan made sure they didn't put themselves in a precarious position by being positive from the start and got the easy win.

Bangladesh will feel they have let themselves down in a big way. Coming into the tournament, they had some notable wins in recent bilateral series at home but have now gone on to lose six games on the trot after winning their opening game and are out of the competition. The batting never really clicked and the bowlers were put under pressure right from the start. Taskin Ahmed bowled well up top but Shoriful Islam was hit away for boundaries and soon Taskin too started to leak runs. Mehidy Hasan was the only bowler who created wicket-taking opportunities and picked up all three wickets, joining the 100-wicket ODI club as well. Shakib Al Hasan was a bit economical but didn't have much impact on play and neither did Mustafizur Rahman and in the end, Bangladesh were a distant second in this clash.

PAKISTAN ARE STILL ALIVE IN THE COMPETITION! A clinical performance from Pakistan after a run of four straight losses and they will hope that it hasn't come one game too late. This win was set up by the bowlers who restricted Bangladesh to a low total and then the openers made sure that the side got a good start and killed the game with a big stand. Abdullah Shafique showed his class yet again at the top and made his way to a classy fifty that included some fiery shots as well. It was the return of Fakhar Zaman that made a big difference as the southpaw played freely and got the big hits away. The pair put on 128 runs before Shafique got out and then skipper Babar Azam joined Fakhar at the crease. Babar and Fakhar both got out in quick succession with the latter missing out on a ton. With just a few runs needed, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed racked up the boundaries and finished up proceedings with plenty of overs to spare.

Mohammad Rizwan hits the winning runs! This is floated, full and on off, Mohammad Rizwan prods forward and taps it wide of short covers and scampers across for a run. PAKISTAN WIN BY 7 WICKETS!

Tossed up, full and on middle, Mohammad Rizwan drives it straight to short covers.

SCORES LEVEL! Shortish and around leg, Iftikhar Ahmed moves back and punches it towards long on for a single.

Short again, on middle, Iftikhar Ahmed forces it towards long on for one.

Shorter in length and around leg, Iftikhar Ahmed flicks it off the back foot towards deep backward square leg for a brace.

Tossed up, full and on leg, Iftikhar Ahmed looks to sweep but misses and gets hit on the pads.

Short again and around off, Iftikhar Ahmed punches it straight to short covers.

Short and around middle, Mohammad Rizwan clips it towards backward square leg for a run.

Tossed up, full and on middle, Iftikhar Ahmed winds up for the big slog but adjusts and pushes it towards long on for a single. Pakistan one big hit away from the win now!