Team Pakistan earned a 7-wicket win over Bangladesh on the Eden Gardens on Tuesday to knock the Bangla Tigers out of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
Bangladesh, who received the toss and opted to bat first had been wrapped up by the Pakistani bowling unit for 209 runs. Pakistan then managed to chase down the goal in 32.3 overs as openers Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman each notched up half-centuries.
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Speaking after the win, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam credited his staff as they displayed an excellent efficiency throughout all spheres of the sport on the day.
“All credit to the boys the way we played in all three departments,” Azam stated.
He additionally congratulated Zaman on his sensible 81-run knock off 74 deliveries, which earned the batsman the Man of the Match award.
“We know, if Fakhar bats for 20-30 overs, it’s a different ball game. It is good to see him play his natural game,” Azam continued.
Pakistan maintain onto the hope of reserving a semifinal berth by ending within the prime 4 spots with two group-stage video games remaining for the Azam-led staff, who tackle New Zealand and England of their upcoming two video games.
“We are trying to win the next two matches, we’ll see where we stand,” Azam stated.
Azam additionally credited his bowling unit, as Shaheen Shah Afridi scalped three wickets to go atop the Golden Ball rankings.
“We started well, the way Shaheen started. After 15-20 overs, they built a partnership, our main bowlers picked wickets. And we also got wickets in the middle overs,”
Azam concluded by thanking the followers who’ve thrown their help behind the Pakistani staff.
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Bangladesh skipper, Shakib al Hasan mirrored on a poor displaying with the willow, which led to the loss, however congratulated Pakistan for the win.
“The wicket was really good but we did not put up enough runs on the board, we lost early wickets again. There were some partnerships, but not big partnerships. We were disappointed with the bat,” Shakib stated.
“Credit should go to Pakistan, the way they bowled and the way they batted in the first 10 overs.”
“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, but, luckily I got some runs, and I am feeling better now,” he opined.
The captain of the Bangla Tigers nonetheless stated that his staff look to bounce again of their upcoming two outings towards Sri Lanka and Australia.
“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.”
Having been eradicated from the race for the semifinal of the event, Shakib stated that the Bangla Tigers search to give you good performances of their remaining two video games as they give the impression of being to give one thing again to their followers.
“Everywhere we go, the fans keep supporting us. We have to give something back to them so they can smile,” the Bangladesh skipper concluded.
