Pakistan secured its third victory in the World Cup after defeating Bangladesh by seven wickets in their match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
The Green Shirts chased the target of 205 runs in 33 overs with 105 balls remaining after both the openers scored fifties.
Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique gave a solid start to the Pakistani side after the two added 128 runs to the total in 21 overs.
Shafique was the first one to fall after making 68 off 69 balls. Skipper Babar Azam’s stay at the crease was a short one. He was dismissed on just 9 runs.
Meanwhile, Zaman scored 81 off 74 balls before getting out, smashing seven maximums and three fours on his return to the playing XI.
Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed then took the innings forward and helped Pakistan reach a comfortable win after facing four consecutive losses in their previous game.
For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz took all three wickets.
Bangladesh were in trouble from the start when Shaheen Shah Afridi got Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto in his first two overs. Mushfiqur Rahim soon followed them when Haris Rauf got him in the sixth over.
However, the partnership between Litton Das, who scored 45 runs and Mahmudullah, who added 56 runs, helped Bangladesh recover from the early losses.
After Das fell to Iftikhar Ahmed, Skipper Shakib Al Hasan came in the middle and scored 43 off 64 balls before Rauf took his wicket.
For Pakistan, Afridi and Waseem Jr. took three wickets each while Rauf got two batters out.
Usama Mir and Iftikhar Ahmed took one wicket each.
Pakistan will look to end their four-game losing streak to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
Pakistan are seventh in the World Cup table out of 10 teams with two wins, while Bangladesh is ninth with only one win.
Conditions in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens are expected to be warm and sunny and the pitch could be low-scoring. In a previous match at the venue, Netherlands posted 229 in 50 overs batting first and held Bangladesh to 142 in the second inning.
Fakhar Zaman, Usama Mir and Salman Ali Agha are back in the squad.
Pakistan
1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Salman Ali Agha, 8 Usama Mir, 9 Mohammad Wasim, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf.
Bangladesh
1 Litton Das, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam.
