Babar Azam-led Pakistan have boosted their World Cup qualification chances after a clinical 7-wicket win over Bangladesh. Fakhar Zaman slammed 81 runs while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jnr picked up 3 wickets each as Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to a total of 204 before reaching the required target with 13.3 overs to spare.
Had Pakistan managed to pull off the chase in under 30 overs, they could have boosted their Net Run Rate (NRR) further, however, since they needed 32.3 overs to complete the chase of 205 runs, Pakistan’s NRR remained negative, but it has improved to -0.024.
With the victory, Pakistan secured their third win in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Earlier, Babar Azam and Co. had won two games against Netherlands and Sri Lanka but after their 7-wicket loss to India, things went downhill for them.
ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets
The Green Army lost four games in a row, however, they have picked up two crucial points to keep themselves alive in the race for the semifinals.
After losses against Afghanistan, India, Australia and South Africa, Pakistan’s win over Bangladesh helped them reach fifth place in the points table, with six points from seven games.
Despite the win, unfortunately, Pakistan do not have their fate in their own hands and they will need other results to go in their favour. Babar and his men will face New Zealand on Saturday and England on November 11, winning both of those matches by big margins will not only keep them on course for qualification to the semifinals but also boost their NRR.
India are currently on 12 points from six outings, they are through to the semis already, so Pakistan will hope that either South Africa, New Zealand and Australia drop points in their remaining matches.
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Afghanistan have also reached six points after their win over Sri Lanka, so Pakistan will hope that Australia or South Africa can beat Afghanistan so that they cannot reach 10 points.
New Zealand are due to face South Africa and Sri Lanka, for Pakistan to qualify they would want the Kiwis to slip up in both those games. Lastly, India can also hand Pakistan a massive boost if the Men in Blue end up beating both Sri Lanka and Netherlands which would boost the chances of Babar’s side.
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