Imam's Century, Shaheen's Six-For Rule The Day

Bitter-sweet for Pakistan as the win is not enough to take it to the semifinals

- Shayan Acharya

Imam-ul-Haq scored a gritty ton and Shaheen Afridi scalped a six-for as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 94 runs at Lord’s on Friday.

But that wasn’t enough as the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side crashed out of the World Cup despite finishing its group stage on a winning note. Pakistan faced an improbable task of beating Bangladesh by 300-plus runs to keep its semifinal hopes alive. After it amassed 315 for nine, it needed to dismiss Bangladesh for seven runs or less!

Bangladesh rode on Shakib-Al Hasan’s 64 to finish at 221.

After his seventh half-century equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 2003, Shakib slashed wildly at a ball from Shaheen and was caught behind. The 19-year-old left-armer, playing in his maiden World Cup, finished with a tally of 16 wickets.