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Pakistan down Bangladesh to stay alive at World Cup

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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, AFP reported.

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 10-team event with just one win from seven games.

“We are trying to win our next two matches and let’s see where we stand. We will take a lot of confidence into those matches,” said Pakistan skipper Babar Azam who singled out Zaman for special praise.

“We know when Fahkar plays the way he can for 20-30 overs it is a different ball game. So we let him play his natural game and it is good to see.”

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 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.

He holed out to Miraz in the 28th over but Mohammad Rizwan (26) and Iftikhar Ahmed (17) remained undefeated to complete the modest chase.

Miraz finished with 3-60, the only bright spot in Bangladesh’s bowling.

“Two more matches hopefully we can bounce back. The fans supported us and are behind us whether we are doing well or not,” said Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.

“We have to give something back to them so they can smile.”

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Patel and Mendis help Sunrisers beat Kings in Dhoni’s 400th T20

Fast bowler Harshal Patel grabbed four wickets and Kamindu Mendis showed his allround skill as Sunrisers Hyderabad upstaged Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in Chennai on Friday.

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Patel grabbed 4-28 and was ably assisted by skipper Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat — both finishing with identical figures of 2-21 — to dismiss the home team for a below-par 154 in 19.5 overs.

South African youngster Dewald Brevis was the top scorer for the Kings with a blistering 25-ball 42, cracking four sixes and a boundary on his debut for the franchise.

Skipper M.S. Dhoni failed to make his 400th T20 a memorable occasion, managing just six runs and coming out on the losing side.

Sunrisers achieved the target in 18.4 overs for the loss of five wickets with Ishan Kishan leading the way with a solid 34-ball 44 with five boundaries and a six.

Mendis struck an unbeaten 32 off 22 balls, adding 49 in an unbroken sixth wicket stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy who finished with a 13-ball 19 not out.

The victory lifted Sunrisers to eighth on the 10-team table topped by Gujrat Titans with 12 points in eight matches while five-time champions Kings are at the bottom with four points in nine.

Patel, declared man-of-the-match, attributed discipline as the key for his fine bowling.

“I figured out pretty early that hitting it on a good length around the stumps was important because it was hard to hit with the horizontal bat,” said Patel.

Dhoni blamed losing a cluster of wickets for the poor batting show.

“I think we kept losing wickets and another thing is in the first innings the wicket was slightly better,” said Dhoni. “A total of 157 wasn’t a justifiable score.”

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings were rocked by Sunrisers’s pacer Patel who ripped through the middle and lower-order batting.

The home team started on a wrong note when opener Shaik Rasheed was caught in the slip off the very first delivery of the match by fast bowler Mohammad Shami.

Seventee-year-old Ayush Mhatre was impressive in his 19-ball 30, which was studded with six boundaries, while Ravindra Jadeja managed 21 with a six and a boundary.

Jadeja’s dismissal brought Dhoni to the crease as the crowd roared to welcome their hero in his 400th T20 match but Dhoni’s stay lasted for just ten balls.

It was Brevis who assured Kings get past 150 with some lusty hitting.

Deepak Hooda also chipped in with a 21-ball 22 with a six and a boundary.

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Sri Lanka A defeats Afghanistan A by 4 wickets in Abu Dhabi

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Afghanistan A was defeated by Sri Lanka A with a margin of four wickets in the ongoing 50-over tri-nation cricket series.

The match was held on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Afghanistan had previously lost one match against Ireland and another against Sri Lanka in this series.

Batting first, the Afghan team set a target of 229 runs after losing eight wickets.

In response, Sri Lanka A chased down the target, losing six wickets.

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Afghanistan qualify for U19 Cricket World Cup 2026

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Afghanistan’s U19 cricket team has officially qualified for the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, following the final day washout in the Asia Qualifiers.

After securing three big wins in their first three games, today’s match against Nepal U19s was washed out. Thanks to their superior Net Run Rate, Afghanistan U19s topped the table and book their berth in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, which will take place early next year in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

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