Online Desk: After scoring only 193 while batting first, Bangladesh suffered a big defeat by seven wickets to Pakistan in their first match in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup in Lahore on Wednesday. Bangladesh had won the toss and opted to bat first. Unfortunately, they struggled to lay a solid foundation as makeshift opener Mehidy Hasan Miraz suffered a first-ball duck, and three other batters followed suit in quick succession within the first 10 overs of the inning.

Towhid Hridoy, who had failed to score in the previous match, continued his struggle and fell swiftly once again. While Mohammad Naim and Litton Das managed to make promising starts, they were unable to carry on their innings. Litton, who contributed 16 runs with four boundaries, fell victim to Shaheen Shah Afridi’s short-pitched delivery. He had just returned to the team after recovering from a fever that had sidelined him for the first two matches of the Asia Cup.

However, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim both scored half-centuries, bearing the responsibility of guiding Bangladesh to a more substantial total. But they failed despite having the opportunity. Shamim Hossain and Afif Hossain also showed promise when they came to the crease but failed to extend their stay at the wicket. Eventually, they tumbled for 193 runs.

Haris Rauf was the best bowler for Pakistan, taking four wickets, while Naseeh Shah took three for the hosts. In reply, Pakistan faced some quality bowling from Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam, but their efforts were not enough. Both Taskin and Shoriful took one wicket each.

Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan scored fifty each to guide Pakistan to a comfortable win. Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka and India on September 9 and 15 in their next Super Four clashes in Colombo.