While Bangladesh will look forward to ending their World Cup 2019 journey on a happy note, Pakistan has an ‘almost impossible’ target to achieve. They are virtually out of the race but yet can qualify for the semis mathematically.
Now it’s not easy math to apply; they need to score more than 350 runs (at least) if they bat first and then need to beat Bangladesh by 311 runs and so on. And if Bangladesh win the toss and opt to bat first, they are out before a ball has been bowled.
Well, it seems to be a complete cricketing fairy-tale but not impossible though! Pakistan are currently placed at 5th position with 9 points while Bangladesh are 7th rank holder with 7 points.
Toss Update:
Well, Pakistan were lucky enough to win the toss and they have decided to bat first.
“We will bat first. Only chance we have is to bat first and put a big total on the board. So we will try our best. We are going with the same team, although we know that we need quick and big runs. It's a long tournament and one game is different from the others. Unfortunate to be in this position but we will try our best,” said Sarfaraz at the toss.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, have made two changes for their last face-off; Mahmudullah and Nehidy Hasan come in for Sabbir Rahman and Rubel Hossain.
“I'd love to bat first on this wicket as it's a used wicket. Have to bowl well and restrict them to a chaseable total. We've been playing well against them but this is a fresh game and they're a good side. They're starting to take off in terms of momentum and we need to play well. Yes, it will be a good milestone for us if we manage to win four games in the World Cup. It is my final World Cup game and I will try my best,” said Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza.
Here are the teams:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Mustafizur Rahman
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi