Cricket World Cup: Pakistan beat Bangladesh by seven wickets to rekindle World Cup semi-final hopes

Pakistan reignited their Cricket World Cup semi-final hopes and eliminated Bangladesh with a seven-wicket victory in Kolkata.

Babar Azam’s side moved to within two points of top four with two games remaining after snapping a four-match losing streak and inflicting a sixth straight loss on second-bottom Bangladesh.

Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-23) passed 100 ODI wickets and Mohammad Wasim (3-31) polished off the lower order as Bangladesh were bowled out for 204 – a total Pakistan surpassed with 106 deliveries to spare, largely thanks to Fakhar Zaman’s batting contributions guiding them to 205-3.

More to follow…

What’s next?

Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign is over. The Tigers are now aiming to finish high enough in the standings to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan, and will have plenty to play for against Sr Lanka and Australia.

Meanwhile, Pakistan face New Zealand and England in their final two fixtures, knowing they probably need to win both and for other results to go their way to make the semi-finals for the first time since 2011.

In other news, New Zealand and South Africa face off on Wednesday in Pune. A win for either side would put them second in the World Cup standings behind hosts India, with run rate a crucial indicator of how the top four equation will pan out.

Watch every game from the Cricket World Cup live on Sky Sports between now and the final on Sunday November 19 – or stream without a contract through NOW.