ICC World Cup 2019 Match No 43 Played at Lords London ,UK on 5 July

Pakistan Vs Bangladesh

Brief Scorecard

Pakistan 315/9 (Imam Ul Haq 100, Babar Azam 96, Imad Wasim 43, Mohammad Hafeez 27, Mustafizur Rahman 5/75, Mohammad Saifuddin 3/71, Mehedy Miraj 1/30) beat Bangladesh 221 All Out in 44.1 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 64, Liton K Das 32, Mahmudullah 29, Soumya Sarkar 22, Mushfiqur Rahim 16, Mashrafee Mortaza 15, Shaheen Shah Afridi 6/35, Shadab Khan 2/53) by 94 runs.

Player of The Match: Shaheen Shah Afridi( Pakistan)

Neither Pakistan nor Bangladesh survived for the semi finals both now would watch the top four fighting it out. Pakistan won big by 94 runs but did not achieve the impossible target it required the 43 of the 45 matches to decide which four teams would advance to the semi finals.

Pakistan scoring 315/9 runs and restricting Bangladesh to 221 all out won by 94 runs .In the match of some consequence with Pakistan needing an achievement of   an impossible target scoring over 400 and winning by 325 runs they beat Bangladesh by a huge margin of 94 runs. Bangladesh was required a win to cap its impressive performance in World Cup 2019. Pakistan playing true to its potential executed their plan though their impossible mission was not achieved. Yet winning the match they finished 5th with 11 points from 9 matches . New Zealand with equal points went through to the semi final on better net run rate. Bangladesh finished 7th with 7 points from 9 matches.

Home bound Bangladesh did not look like having a game plan. They fielded extremely poorly. Dropped catches, gave way runs through over throws. Having Pakistan openers shackled in the first power play they let them off the hook. Imam UlHaque (100) and Babar Azam (96) batted brilliantly.

Pakistan could definitely go closer to 400 had not been amazing Mustafiz( Fizz) appear with another spectacular 5 wicket haul (5/75 ). Emerging pace all rounder Mohammad Saifuddin (3/71) also bowled well. Mehedy Miraj (1/30) also bowled tight. It could be so different if Mosaddeq and Mushfique took the chances offered. Pakistan started very cautiously. Rather than chasing the impossible target they planned for winning the match. Mehedy Miraj and Saifuddin strangled them in the first power play. Out of touch FakharZaman was removed early. Babar Azam appeared in gorgeous form right from the start playing delectable strokes.

Imam also looked great. The 155 runs 2nd wicket partnership set a great launching pad before Babar was denied of a richly deserved century 4 runs short of target. Siafuddin had him trapped in front. He went for unsuccessful DRS. Imam went on scoring 100. He had another partnership worth mentioning with Hafeez (66 in the 3rd wicket). Pakistan was well set for still higher score near 400. But Mustafiz returning in his final spell displayed his magic mopping up Pakistan’s late middle order (5/75). Pakistan still posted an impressive 315/9. Mashrafee playing his last match of World Cup failed to impress with his bowling conceding 46 runs in his 7 overs.Mustafiz achieved his 100 wickets tally with the second of the five wickets he took becoming the 6th Bangladesh bowler doing that.

Chasing 316 did not look that impossible for a very strong Bangladesh batting. But their star opener Tamim looked awfully out of touch. After groping in the dark for a while he inside edged ShaheenAfridi .Soumya played some aggressive strokes .He too was removed by Amir for a run a ball 22. In form Shakib looked silky as ever. With Mushfique he started repairing the innings. But a sedate looking Mushfique also inside edged WahabRiaz soon.

At 3/78 with Shakib still there Bangladesh could challenge Pakistan target. Liton was looking enterprising .His brief innings of 32 was again cut short by talented youngster Shaheen Afridi. Shakib went on scoring yet another half century his 6th in this world cup. With two centuries under his belt he is now the highest scorer (606 in 8 matches). He is the only players scoring over 500 and taking over 10 wickets in one world cup. It will take a long time for any all rounder surpassing this. Bangladesh lost wickets at regular interval. Playing high quality left arm pace bowling of newAfridi (6/35) looked extremely difficult for Bangladesh. Only Mahmudullah( 29) tried his level best. The home bound Bangladesh failed to give a deserving farewell gift to their enigmatic captain Mashrafee Bin Mortaza .Mashrafee however scored 15 runs of 14 deliveries in his last innings at World Cup.

Pakistan won by 94 runs which was way below their requirement for qualifying for the semi finals.

THE NAMES OF MUSTFIZ (5/? 5), Shaheen Shah Afridi (6/35) and Imam UlHaq (100) would be inscribed in the GREAT Hall OF LORDS for their outstanding performances.

For Pakistan it was not a bad return finishing 5th just below the top four. They now have some great young players in Imam UlHaque , Babar Azam , Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan who will form the nucleus of a wiining team in the future .

Bangladesh could not finish strongly. But when they look back in retrospect they will have lot to take pride on. Shakib with superb all round performance may turn out the player of the tournament .Mustafiz ultimately shined. With 20 wickets and two five wickets haul against India and Pakistan he proved his point as one of the leading death over bowlers. Mohammad Saifuddin is a find of WC 2019 for Bangladesh. Unfortunately Tamim and Mashrafee were not in their elements .Mushfique ,Mahmudullah played well but were not consistent . Bangladesh needs to explore how they can find better quality openers to exploit first power play and some power hitters in the late overs. They definitely need a pair of express pace bowlers and a quality wrist spinner.

HOPE TIGER FANS WOULD POSITIVELY POST MORTEM THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR TEAM. THE FACT THAT THE TEAM HAS LET ALL DREAM OF GETTING INTO ELITE GROUPS IS NO MEAN ACHIEVEMENT. It could be great if Bangladesh qualified for the semi final. But it was a bit disappointing that they failed to even finish 5th. 

BDST: 0915 HRS, JULY 06, 2019

AH