Pakistan thrash Bangladesh by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens, keep World Cup hopes alive

This time, "Dil Dil Pakistan" really came to pass. The 27,940 spectators who packed the Eden on Tuesday gave Babar Azam and company their due, despite the fact that the Bangladeshi fans outnumbered everyone else.

However, history shows that Pakistanis are far more at ease in Calcutta and are less likely to make mistakes when playing at Eden. They crushed Bangladesh by seven wickets on Tuesday, their sixth consecutive ODI victory at the stadium in seven visits, and it was no different.

That was even after Captain Babar, who had a perfect chance to get some rhythm and flow back, only scored nine runs before sinking to the bottom.

Pakistan's much-needed victory keeps them in the World Cup and puts them in the running to make it to the round of four. Bangladesh, meanwhile, saw their hopes of advancing to the semi-finals humiliated by their sixth straight defeat.

Shakib-Al Hasan, the captain, won the toss and chose to bat on a slightly dryer pitch than the one used for the Bangladesh-Netherlands match on Saturday. With the exception of Mahmudullah (56), however, very few other batters were able to muster any kind of resistance against the Pakistani pace trio of Mohammad Wasim (3/31) Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/23), and Haris Rauf (2/36). In 45.1 overs, Bangladesh was bowled out for 204.

Once more, Shakib (43), who also was unable to convert a start, and his colleagues were unable to survive the entire 50 overs.

Beginning the run chase cautiously were openers Fakhar Zaman (81), making his only second appearance in the ongoing Cup after replacing Imam-ul Haq. Abdullah Shafique also started the run chase. However, once they were clicking, Fakhar and Shafique (68) tormented the lifeless Bangladeshi bowling to all corners with boundaries and maximums.

The starting pair was unable to get to three figures. However, that shouldn't really matter to them or their team because they moved up to fifth in the rankings with this crushing victory, which also slightly increased their net run rate with up to 105 balls remaining.

More empty seats in the stands were visible as the game went on, indicating that the Bangladeshi supporters had had enough of the "torture." When captain Shakib came on to bowl, a group of them at "G1" block became so enraged with the proceedings that they even cried out, "bhuaa, bhuaa (fake, fake)".

It remains to be seen how far Pakistan can go after this convincing victory because they still have games left to play and a few other matches need to go their way. However, Shaheen and the other quicks regaining some momentum in this more hospitable environment and conditions certainly portends well for them moving forward.

This Eden song seemed a little slower and lacked some bounce. However, with

Shaheen took full advantage of the early movement for the quicks to smash the Bangladesh top order, scoring twice in the first three overs.

Coming around the wicket in his subsequent spell, the left-arm quick removed a well-positioned Mahmudullah by bowling the fuller length with late movement. That strike was lethal as well.

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