In a World Cup campaign full of embarrassment for team Bangladesh, they now confront another struggling team, Pakistan, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced comparable World Cup journeys thus far. Bangladesh won their opening game but lost their next five straight. Pakistan got off to a slightly better start, winning their opening two games, but they then dropped their next four games.
Bangladesh, who had the goal of
competing in the World Cup semifinals, has only triumphed once in the first six games. In the previous game, they also suffered a defeat to the Netherlands. Bangladesh's elimination from the World Cup is official after this defeat. Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh, is still considering what he can do for his nation’s cricket fanatic people by performing well in the final three games.
On October 28, at the Eden Gardens, the Netherlands beat Bangladesh by a big margin of 87 runs. They managed to get all the Bangladeshi players out for just 142 runs with 7.3 balls still to spare in the game.
With the exception of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored 35 runs, and Mahmudullah and Mustafizur Rahman, who both scored 20 runs each, no other Bangladeshi batter could stay on the pitch for a long time against the Dutch bowlers. On the other side, for the Netherlands, Paul van Meekeren took 4 wickets, Bas de Leede got two wickets, and Colin Ackermann, Logan van Beek, and Aryan Dutt each took one wicket.
On the other hand, Pakistan needed to defeat South Africa in their most recent game in order to advance to the semi-finals. After an intense and thrilling match, Pakistan's team left the field having lost by just one wicket, despite their best efforts. Pakistan found it more challenging to participate in the semi-finals as a result.
The Tigers and the Pakistanis will be looking to win the bragging rights, but it does not ensure semifinal qualification for either of them. Although the match has minimal consequences for Bangladesh, Pakistan will have to win to keep themselves afloat in the race. We believe it will be an intriguing affair and Pakistan may have just the upper hand, as they have something to play for in the tournament.
