Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets

Lahore, The Gulf Observer: Pakistan beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the first Super 4 encounter of Asia Cup 2023 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Wednesday evening.

The hosts chased down below par 194 run target in 39.3 overs with the loss of just three wickets.

Opener Imam-ul-Haq and Muhammad Rizwan scored half-centuries to enable the green shirts to cross the finishing line with seven wickets in hand and 10.3 overs to spare.

Chasing below 200 runs target on otherwise a high-scoring venue, openers made a cautious start, putting together 35 runs in 9.1 overs.

After losing Fakhar Zaman (20) and skipper Babar Azam (17), Imam (78) and Muhammad Rizwan (63) added valuable 85 runs to bring Pakistan close to the victory target.

After losing Imam, Muhammad Rizwan and Agha Salman (12) helped the team cross the finishing line without any further damage.

Haris Rauf was named player of the match for his bowling efforts of 4/19.

Earlier, Bangladesh was all out for 193 runs in 38.4 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat first on a batting-friendly surface.

Bangladesh lost its first wicket in the second over with nothing on the board. Mehdy Hasan Mirza, the player of the match in an important group stage clash against Afghanistan, got out to Naseem Shah on a golden duck.

Opener Naim and Litton Das tried to steady the ship through an aggressive 31-run partnership, After that Bangladesh lost three quick wickets and the scoreboard presented a sorry look of 47/4.

Experienced batter Mushfiqur Rahim and skipper Shakib Al Hasan brought the team back into the match with a 100-run partnership.

After the pair were separated at 147 with the departure of skipper Shakib Al Hasan with individual contribution of 53, Mushfiq and Shamim Hossain added another 43 runs to take the score to 174 before the latter got out on 16.

At 190/6 with set Mushfiq batting, Bangladesh was looking to put up a decent score.

But Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah bagged two wickets each with the addition of just three runs to ensure that Pakistan will not be chasing a competitive total.

Mushfiq remained the top scorer with 64 runs.

Haris Rauf bagged four, Naseem Shah three while Shaheen Shah Afridi, Faheem Ashraf and Iftikhar Ahmed got one wicket each.

Team Green was a table topper in Group A after it beat Nepal in the tournament opener. Pakistan qualified for the Super 4 round after the match against India ended in no result due to rain and both teams were awarded with one point each.

Bangladesh are in second position in Group B with two points, with Sri Lanka standing at the top with four points.