Pakistan 2 points away from a semi-final spot but more importantly have to win the game by minimum 311 runs win to secure a place in the semis. They can only blame themselves for this situation. Bangladesh, which is out of the World Cup would be eyeing a win to end the World Cup on a good note.
Bangladesh had already won a World Cup game against Pakistan in 1999. That’s the only time the two teams played against each other in the World Cup. Also, on paper, Bangladesh looks much stronger as a team than Pakistan. They have played excellent cricket and must be blaming the rain which didn’t let them have a match against Sri Lanka because of which they can’t think of semis now. They have been absolutely in top gear when it comes to batting. Their bowling is solid as well, so as their fielding. It shouldn’t be much difficult for them to beat Pakistan at this stage of the tournament.
Pakistan has an unrealistic task to secure a place in semis. They need to score a minimum of 400 runs to score batting first, and then they have to dismiss Bangladesh for less than 84 or score 350 and dismiss Bangladesh for 38 runs. If they bowl first, then they will have no chance. Their batting has led them down the most. Had they batted well against West Indies, Australia, and Afghanistan, they would have been placed at a better position in the points table with a healthy run rate.
Players to watch out
Shakib Al Hasan has scored 542 runs in World Cup, and he needs 132 runs to surpass Tendulkar’s record of 673 runs in a single World Cup edition. His bowling has helped the team as well, and he would be ready to take the Pakistani batters.
Babar Azam, the talented Pakistani batsman, has one last chance to show his class in this World Cup. He can smash as well as play like an anchor for Pakistan in the game, but sadly Pakistan would have no chance in the match if they bat second.
Bangladesh v Pakistan in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 36, Bangladesh Won 5, Pakistan Won 31
World Cup: Matches 1, Bangladesh Won 1, Pakistan Won 0
Recent Form (most recent first): Bangladesh L W L W NR, Pakistan W W W L L
ICC Rankings: Bangladesh (7), Pakistan (6)
Upcoming Records:
Shoaib Malik has taken 98 catches and needs two more to reach the 100 catches milestone.
Tamim Iqbal has scored 6,863 runs and needs 137 more to reach the 7,000 runs milestone
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz.
