[ad_1]
Returning to winning ways in the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup on Tuesday, Babar Azam‘s Pakistan ended its losing streak with a much-needed win over Asian rivals Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens. Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman played a quick-fire knock while pace ace Shaheen Shah Afridi delivered the goods with the ball as Pakistan crushed Bangladesh by seven wickets in match No.31 of the ICC World Cup.
Batting first in the crucial encounter of the ICC World Cup at the famous venue, Bangladesh folded for 204 in 45.1 overs. Turning the match into a low-scoring encounter, speedsters Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr shared six wickets for the 1992 world champions. Riding on Zaman’s blistering knock of 81 off 74 balls, Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets to record its third win of the ICC World Cup in India.
Before registering a morale-boosting win over Shakib Al Hasan’s Bangladesh side, Pakistan were outplayed by arch-rivals India, record-time winners Australia and giant killers Afghanistan in the round-robin phase of the ICC World Cup. With the win, Babar’s Pakistan have confirmed Bangladesh’s exit from the semi-final race at the ICC World Cup.
What are Pakistan’s semi-final chances?
Interestingly, the misfiring Pakistan side still has a chance of sealing a late berth in the last four of the ICC event. Babar and Co. strengthed Pakistan’s qualification case by improving their net run rate in the round-robin stage at Kolkata. With a run rate of -0.024, Pakistan have climbed to the fifth spot of the World Cup points table. The 1992 winners are two points behind Australia and New Zealand. Second-placed South Africa are four points ahead of Pakistan.
The Green Army will finish behind current table-toppers India in the ICC World Cup standings but Babar and Co. can make a strong case for themselves if either one of New Zealand, South Africa or Australia end up losing a few matches and fail to cross the 10-point mark. Pakistan can then upstage its closest rival for a semi-final berth with a superior net run rate. Babar’s Pakistan will next meet New Zealand (Saturday) and England (November 11) in its remaining two matches of the round-robin stage.
[ad_2]
Source link