Mahmudullah watches the ball after playing a shot during the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup ODI match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday. Mahmudullah scored the team’s highest 56 runs. — AFP KOLKATA, Oct 31 (AFP): Shaheen Shah Afridi grabbed three wickets while openers Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique cracked half-centuries as Pakistan stormed to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh on Tuesday to stay afloat in the race for a World Cup semi-final place.
Shaheen's 3-23 helped Pakistan dismiss Bangladesh for just 204 in 45.1 overs before Zaman's 74-ball 81 and Shafique's 69-ball 68 guided Pakistan over the line for the loss of three wickets with 105 balls to spare.
The victory revived Pakistan's outside hopes of reaching the semi-finals with six points from seven matches.
They still need to win against New Zealand (November 4 in Bengaluru) and England (Kolkata on November 11) and also hope other results go their way if they are to stay in the tournament.
In contrast, Bangladesh became the first side to crash out of the ten-team event with just one win from seven games.
Needing to improve their net run-rate, Zaman and Shafique cruised to 128 by the 22nd over.
Shafique hit nine boundaries and two sixes as he made his third half century in addition to a hundred in the tournament.
He fell leg-before to spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz while skipper Babar Azam holed out to the same bowler for nine.
Zaman, who recovered from a knee injury to replace Imam-ul-Haq in one of three changes for Pakistan, smashed seven sixes and three boundaries, his 16th ODI fifty, but first after 11 innings.
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