ODI World Cup 2023, Match 31, PAK vs BAN Stats Review: Shaheen Afridi's feat, Najmul Hossain Shanto's horrible form and other stats

After losing their previous four encounters, Babar Azam’s Pakistan finally returned to winning ways as they defeated a struggling and low-on-confidence-looking Bangladesh side in the ongoing sixteenth edition of the World Cup. Seamers Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr picked up three wickets each, while Fakhar Zaman smashed 81 off just 74 as the Men in Green won by seven wickets in Kolkata. With this, Bangladesh became the first team to get knocked out of the ongoing marquee tournament.

Speaking about how the match No. 31 panned out, skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss, and the Bangla Tigers elected to bat first. Tanzid Hasan bagged a duck while Najmul Hossain Shanto’s horror run continued as he got dismissed for just four. The latter has now amassed only 87 runs in seven innings with six consecutive single-digit scores in this WC. Litton Das looked good for his 45, while the veteran Mahmudullah racked up 56 runs. Captain Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz mustered 43 and 25 runs, respectively.

Haris Rauf also snared two scalps as Bangladesh got bundled out for just 204 in 45.1 overs. In reply, Zaman, who made his return after being dropped, looked at his brilliant best right from the start. His opening partner Abdullah Shafique also continued on his good form as the duo added 128 runs for the opening wicket. Zaman smashed three fours and seven towering maximums in his counter-attacking knock. Shafique got out for 68, while Babar made only nine. Mohammad Rizwan remained not out on 26 as Pakistan registered their third victory of the tournament. For his solid knock of 81, Zaman grabbed the Player of the Match award.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Match No. 31 between Pakistan and Bangladesh in the World Cup 2023:

102 – Pacer Shaheen Afridi reached the landmark of 100 wickets in one-day internationals.

87 – Najmul Hossain Shanto has managed to score only 87 runs in seven innings at a poor average of 14.50 with six single-digit scores in this World Cup.

51 – Afridi is now the fastest pacer to reach the landmark of 100 ODI wickets in his 51^st match. Australia’s Mitchell Starc grabbed the feat in his 52^nd game.

11 – Fakhar Zaman registered his first 50-plus score after 11 ODI innings. His last knock of 180* came against New Zealand in April. 

55.33 – Abdullah Shafique has struck 332 runs in six innings at a solid average of 55.33 with one century and three half-centuries in this World Cup.

6 – Pakistan has played seven ODI matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, and they have emerged victorious on six occasions. Their only loss came against Sri Lanka in the year 1997.

4 – Shafique has now struck the joint-second most 50-plus scores (four) for Pakistan in a WC edition. Mishab-ul-Haq and Babar Azam did the same job in 2015 and 2019, respectively. Javed Miandad is at the top with five such scores in the 1992 World Cup.

32 – Afridi has now picked up the fourth-most wickets (32) for Pakistan in World Cups. He surpassed Shahid Afridi’s tally of 30 scalps. Wasim Akram (55), Wahab Riaz (35) and Imran Khan (34) are in the top three spots.