Watch: Shastri goes berzerk, Waqar, Watson in total shock as Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman gives ‘proper whack’ vs Bangladesh
“What a sound. Wow. That’s a proper whack,” thundered Ravi Shastri on-air after Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman showcased his six-hitting prowess during the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2023 encounter between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Ending its longest losing streak in the One Day International (ODI) World Cup on Tuesday, Babar Azam’s Pakistan crushed Bangladesh by seven wickets in match No.31 of the ICC event at the Eden Gardens.
Shastri, Waqar and Watson were in awe of the Pakistani opener (Twitter screengrab/HT )
Openers Zaman and Abdullah Shafique smashed half-centuries to make sure Pakistan registered its third win of the World Cup. After Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr shared six wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 204 in 45.1 overs, the onus was on Pakistan’s openers to give the team a promising start in Kolkata. Recalled into the side in Pakistan’s must-win clash, opener Zaman laid the foundation for a successful run-chase with his blistering knock.
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Shastri and Waqar react as Fakhar smokes ‘biggest’ 6 of World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens
Launching an early attack on the Bangladeshi bowlers, Zaman smashed his first boundary of the match in the fourth over. The Pakistan opener smoked a monstrous six off Taskin Ahmed in the first powerplay. Even Bangladesh’s Ahmed had a smile on his face after he was smashed for a massive six. “Wow. 95 meters. Easily the biggest of the tournament so far I guess,” added Younis, who was mighty impressed with the batting exploits of the Pakistani opener. The biggest six of this tournament, however, belongs to India’s Shreyas Iyer, who hit a 101m six against Afghanistan.
Shane Watson, who too was in the commentary box when this happened, had his mouth opened in absolute amazement. “There are not too many batters in the world who can do that to that ball,” he said.
Zaman powers Pakistan to 7-wicket win
Zaman hammered seven sixes and three fours in his entertaining knock of 81 off 74 balls. While Zaman top-scored for the Green Army, his partner-in-crime Shafique chipped in with 68 off 69 deliveries. Riding on half-centuries from the Pakistani openers, Babar and Co. completed the run chase in 32.3 overs. With the seven-wicket win over Bangladesh, Babar’s Pakistan have climbed to the fifth spot on the ICC World Cup 2023 points table.
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‘Told Abdullah that I will see off…
Zaman is second in the list of batters with most sixes by a Pakistani batter in a single innings at the World Cup. He is only behind former Pakistani batter Imran Nazir, who clobbered seven sixes against Zimbabwe in the 2007 edition of the showpiece event. “I told Abdullah that I will see off the first few overs, I knew I could hit big sixes. My role is to make it easy for my partner, so it was important to see off the first few overs and then play my shots. NRR was in our mind after we reached 100, the aim was to finish it off in 30 overs. I had too many failures, I was looking towards such a knock and hopefully, I’ll make bigger scores in the next few games,” Zaman said after being adjudged the Player of the Match.
