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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Chhattisgarh: Two killed, six injured in centring frame crash at under-construction building
Raipur, Jan 11: Two workers were killed and six others injured when a centring frame collapsed during the laying of a slab at an under-construction building in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred in Vishal Nagar area on VIP Road where a multi-storey building is being constructed, Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police Lakhan Patle told PTI.
As per preliminary information, a slab was being laid on 8th floor of the building around 3:30 PM when the centring frame crashed and fell on the ground, he said.
"Eight workers who were trapped under the debris of iron bars and construction material, were evacuated and admitted to different hospitals. Of them, two succumbed to injuries in the hospital," he said.
Police had earlier said 10 injured workers were injured in the incident.
Of the six injured, the condition of one is stated to be serious, Raipur Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh said.
Soon after being alerted, police and district administration personnel rushed to the spot and launched a rescue exercise wherein State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was later involved, he said.
As per information, no worker is trapped under the debris but more clarity will be had after the debris is cleared over the next few hours, the SP said.
The under-construction project belongs to a private real estate firm, which has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to kin of each of the deceased, officials said.
Pradyum, a labourer, said he was working on the ground floor when he heard a loud sound of metals falling to the ground.
"Some workers fell from the top where slab laying work was underway. Some workers who were at the ground got trapped under the debris. I and others present got involved in pulling them out," he said.
Meanwhile, some workers, on condition of anonymity, said the site did not have safety measures.
Queried about this aspect, SP Singh said a probe will be conducted into safety protocols and action will follow based on the findings.
