Decision Review System (DRS) is not Pakistan’s strong suit. Babar Azam is often seen confused like many other captains when to opt for a review or not. But against Bangladesh, wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan found a new way to ensure that Pakistan don’t lose a review. As Babar and Shaheen Afridi were confused about whether to contest the on-field umpire’s decision, Rizwan asked Bangladesh lower-order batter Taskin Ahmed whether he was out or not.
The incident took place in the 43rd over of the innings. Afridi hit Taskin on the pad before the ball landed in Rizwan's gloves. Taskin had missed the flick shot. Afridi and Rizwan appealed whereas Babar was not convinced enough to take a review. Eventually, Babar was right to not opt for the review as the ball-tracking technology showed that it would have gone down the leg side and missed the stumps.
However, Taskin could not do much damage with the bat after surviving the lbw call. On the third delivery, he took a single via leg byes. In the next over, he got bowled by Mohammad Wasim Jr. The left-handed batter could score just six runs from 13 balls.
Earlier, Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Shaheen Afridi started off with the wickets of Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto with the new ball. Haris Rauf then got the wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim to reduce Bangladesh to 23/3 in the seventh over.
The partnership between Litton Das and Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh recover. Then Das’ soft dismissal opened the floodgates. Mahmudullah departed after scoring his half-century. Towhid Hridoy disappointed again. In the slog overs, when Bangladesh needed Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, they could not do the damage. Wasim Jr. cleaned up the tail as Bangladesh were bowled out for 204 in 45.1 overs.
With a three-fer, Afridi became the fastest pacer to 100 ODI wickets from 51 matches. He broke Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc’s record from just 52 matches. He also surpassed his father-in-law Shahid Afridi on the list of most wickets for Pakistan in World Cups. With 32 wickets, he is fourth on the list.
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