Bangladesh and Pakistan are both out of the Champions Trophy after having lost both their encounters to New Zealand and India in Group A. In terms of qualification, this is a dead rubber but being the host nation Pakistan would want to end the tournament on a winning note. As for Bangladesh, they would also want to bow out with a win.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Match 9: Pakistan vs Bangladesh | 14:30 IST, February 27
Being the host nation, a lot of hope was pinned on Pakistan to perform well in the marquee event and maybe even go on and defend their trophy from eight years ago.
In their previous match against arch-rivals India, they could only manage a below par score of 241 all out in 49.4 overs with Saud Shakeel (62 runs), Mohammed Rizwan (46 runs) managing to make decent contributions. The Indian bowling attack performed exceptionally well, restricting Pakistan to a sub-par total with Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya returning with figures of 3/40 and 2/30 respectively.
In response, India chased down the total with ease, Virat Kohli led India to a win with an unbeaten 100 off 111 balls. He was ably supported by Shubhman Gill (46 runs) and Shreyas Iyer (56 runs). Abrar Ahmed was the only Pakistan bowler who troubled the Indian batters, giving away 28 runs in his 10 overs and taking a wicket. Shaheen Shah Afridi did get two wickets but he was clobbered for runs.
Pakistan’s lack of intent with the bat has troubled them in both encounters. Fear of losing wickets has led to their demise as they have played too slow in the middle overs even after building a partnership. Their wayward bowling and sloppy fielding haven’t helped either.
Coming to Bangladesh, they were expected to go out as they hadn’t come into the tournament in great form and compared to the other three teams in the Group, they were the least likely to go through. As expected, Bangladesh lost both their games with their batting letting them down both the times.
In their last match against New Zealand, they scored 236/9 in their 50 overs with Najmul Hossain Shanto being the top scorer with 77 runs off 111 balls, supported by Jaker Ali who scored 45 off 55 balls. Michael Bracewell was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers with figures of 4/26 in his 10 overs. In response, New Zealand chased the total a bit uncomfortably, losing five wickets and winning with 23 balls to spare even though Opener Rachin Ravindra scored a century with Tom Latham also scoring a half-century. Taskin Ahmed bowled well giving away 28 runs and taking one wicket.
Considering the form and quality in both teams, Pakistan has an edge over Bangladesh and with support from the home crowd, Pakistan would most likely go on to win this encounter.
Fantasy XI: Babar Azam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mohammed Rizwan (c) (wk), Saud Shakeel, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Salman Ali Agha, Rishad Hossain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad, Taskin Ahmed.
Winner’s Prediction: Pakistan
Venue: Rawalpindi, Pakistan
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