Pakistan knock out Bangladesh with seven-wicket win
Kolkata (PTI): Opener Fakhar Zaman capped his return with an attacking fifty after Shaheen Shah Afridi's fiery spell as Pakistan knocked Bangladesh out of the World Cup with a seven-wicket win to keep their slim semifinal hopes alive here on Tuesday.
Shaheen spearheaded their three-pronged pace attack with splendid figures of 9-1-23-3 as Pakistan bundled out Bangladesh for a lowly 204 in 45.1 overs.
Fakhar, who missed five of their six matches because of a knee injury, smashed seven sixes and three fours in his 74-ball 81. Abdullah Shafique also struck a quick 68 off 69 balls (9x4, 2x6) as the new-look opening pair laid the foundation with an imposing 128-run alliance.
Just when it looked like a one-way traffic for Pakistan, off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz (3/60) took both the openers but with no scoreboard pressure Pakistan knocked off the paltry 205-run target in 32.3 overs.
This was Bangladesh's sixth loss on the trot as the Shakib Al Hasan-led side became the first team to be officially eliminated from the 10-team global showpiece with two matches in hand.
They next play Sri Lanka and Australia in their last two matches.
Having returned to winning ways after enduring four defeats, Pakistan with three wins from seven matches kept their faint semifinal hopes alive. They next take on New Zealand before concluding their league campaign against England.
Pakistan's new left-right handed opening duo started off with utmost caution, conceding two maiden off Bangladesh's new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed in first three overs.
But that was it, as the Pakistani duo soon started milking the attack and raced to 52 for no loss inside the powerplay.
The duo soon switched gears with Zaman smoking Taskin Ahmed over square leg for a 99-metre six. There was no stopping them and Shaifque took on Mustafizur Rahman for three successive boundaries.
Zaman brought up his 16th ODI half-century in 51 balls when he stepped up to Bangla pacer Taskin with a massive six down the ground. In the previous over, Shafique took 51 balls to get to his third half-century.
Zaman, however, missed out on a well-deserved century, holing out at midwicket to give Mehidy his third wicket.
Skipper Babar Azam, however, continued to disappoint getting out for 9 (16b) when he mistimed a shot off Miraz.
But Mohammad Rizwan (26 not out) and Iftikhar Ahmed (17 not out) finished off the chase with 107 balls to spare.
Earlier, Shaheen rattled the Bangladeshi top-order and became the fastest Pakistani to reach 100 ODI wickets. Mohammad Wasim Jr. then cleaned up the tail returning with figures of 8.1-1-31-3 as Bangladesh failed to last the distance yet again to be bowled out in 45.1 overs.
Shaheen may have lost his pace a bit after recovering from a knee injury, but he bowled with clever variations and extracted swing on a flat Eden wicket.
The 23-year-old straightway got into the action, trapping Tanzid Hasan leg before wicket with extra bounce and late swing. That happened to be his 100th wicket in ODIs. He became the fastest Pakistani to do so beating Saqlain Mushtaq's mark by a couple of innings.
A brilliant low diving catch by Usama Mir at forward short leg made it two in two overs for Shaheen.
It would have been worse for Bangladesh but Mahmudullah made a responsible 56 off 70 balls (6x4, 1x6) in a 79-run partnership with Litton Das (45; 64b).
From 6/2 in 2.4 overs, Bangladesh were looking at yet another capitulation when Haris Rauf dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim to reduce them to 23/3 before Mahmudullah came to his team's rescue.
The intent was clear from the Bangladesh perspective as they promoted Mahmudullah to No 5.
After Shaheen was taken off the attack, Pakistan also failed to build pressure from both ends, giving Litton and Mahmudullah enough opportunity to make a quick recovery.
The likes of Wasim Jr and Mir, who impressed with their tidy show against South Africa, gave a lot of freebies and the Bangladeshi duo was happy to pierce the gaps.
They welcomed Wasim Jr with a couple of boundaries while Mir too was hit for a four in his first over.
Bangladesh were looking in no trouble before off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed (1/44) provided the crucial breakthrough dismissing Litton.
Shaheen was recalled and bowling around the wicket, he produced a gem of a delivery to end Mahmudullah's stay in the middle.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan then tried to forge a partnership but frittered away his start and was done in by a short ball from by Haris Raul (2/36).
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
