ODI World Cup 2023: Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to 204 runs

As the tournament’s tail end approached, Bangladesh and Pakistan squared off at Eden Gardens. After winning the toss, Bangladesh decided to bat first and made one change to their playing eleven, selecting Towhid Hridoy in place of Mahedi Hasan. Pakistan, however, made three adjustments. Usama Mir took Shadab Khan’s position when the fielder sustained a concussion. Fakhar Zaman and Agha Salman took the place of Imam ul Haq and Muhammad Nawaz. Bangladesh scored 204 runs against Pakistan. Here is a recap of the first innings.

Quick strikes for Pakistan

In their first six games, Pakistan had been deficient in wickets upfront, among other things. That was altered by Shaheen Afridi, who claimed a wicket in the opening over of play. Taking his 100th wicket in the format, Afridi trapped Tanzid Hasan in front of the wickets. Shaheen is the fastest fast bowler to attain 100 wickets and the third-fastest bowler overall in terms of matches played. In his 51st game, Afridi eclipsed Mitchell Starc’s record of taking his 100th wicket in his 52nd game. 

In his subsequent over, Shaheen claimed another wicket by dismissing Najmul Hossain Shanto. On the other end, Iftikhar Ahmed also bowled with control, giving up just eight runs in his opening two overs. In the sixth over, Haris Rauf took his spot. Litton Das opened the proceedings with two straight fours, and Mushfiqur Rahim followed with a boundary, but the Pakistani pacer got the last laugh, getting rid of Rahim on the final ball of the over. In the ninth over, Pakistan lost a review when they contested an LBW call against Mahmadullah. In the first ten overs, Bangladesh scored 37 runs at the expense of three wickets.

Litton and Mahmadullah rebuild the innings

Following the powerplay, Usama Mir and Muhammad Wasim Jr. were brought into the attack. In his opening over, Wasim Jr. gave up two fours and Mir was also hit for a four. When they were bowling, the pair consistently gave up runs due to their lack of consistency with line and length. Following the powerplay, Bangladesh scored 44 runs in eight overs. In the 19th over, Iftikhar replaced Wasim Jr. as the attacking player. Usama carried on with his poor form, giving up 11 runs in the next over after Litton and Mahmadullah hit him for four and six, respectively.

Pakistan strike back with quick wickets

In the twenty-first over, Iftikhar eventually grabbed his first wicket of the game as he removed Litton Das. After hitting six fours and scoring 45 runs in 64 balls, Litton was removed from the game. Replacing Usama, Haris returned to the attack and gave up just one run in his opening over of the spell. With deliberate lengths and lines of bowling, Haris and Iftikhar bowled efficiently, giving up just 15 runs in six overs (22-27). In this era, Mahmadullah reached his half-century mark. In ODIs, this was his 28th fifty. Shakib al Hasan welcomed Wasim back into the attack in the 28th over with a four. 

In the 31st over, Shaheen returned to the attack and quickly had an impact, taking out Mahmadullah, the half-centurion. Following a costly opening period, Usama returned to the attack and was hammered for a six in the third over. Usama got Towhid Hridoy out of the game, which was his first wicket of the game. Bangladesh was down 141 runs after losing their sixth wicket. After just two overs, Shaheen was removed from the attack and Haris took his place. Bangladesh scored just 17 runs in four overs (33–36), once again allowing the scoring rate to decline. 

Shakib and Mehidy Hasan start to accelerate

In the 37th over, Iftikhar returned to the attack to bowl his ninth over. Shakib gave him a hat-trick of fours to greet him, and he let up 14 runs in the over. Mehidya Hasan Miraz hit Usama for a six at the other end, costing him 10 runs in the 38th over. When Babar Azam noticed that Wasim Jr. was being attacked from both sides, he drew Wasim Jr. back into the fray. Wasim gave up just one run in his entire over. Haris joined the assault as the Pacers bowled from both ends. Shakib, the captain of Bangladesh, attempted to pull the short length but was only able to top-edge it, prompting Haris to dismiss him. Agha Salman at mid-wicket completed the catch which at one point looked like it would bounce out of his hands. Iftikhar and Usama came back into the attack to finish their quota of 10 overs. Iftikhar finished with figures of 10-0-44-1 while Usama finished with 10-0-66-1.