Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 94 runs at Lord’s but it wasn’t enough to seal them a place in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Played in front of another energetic World Cup crowd in St John’s Wood, Pakistan won the toss and batted first but having amassed 315 for 9 from their 50 overs, they needed a near-impossible 308-run win over Bangladesh to progress at the expense of New Zealand. Whilst they never looked like winning by such a margin, they nevertheless romped to a handsome victory.

Imam-ul-Haq became the latest player to write his name on to the new Limited Overs International Honours Boards at Lord’s with a fine century at a run a ball. He put on 157 for the second wicket with Babar Azam, who fell four runs short of his own ton. Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman, in Bangladesh’s first ODI at Lord’s, did manage to write his name into the history books, claiming five wickets with his left-arm seam.

When Bangladesh came to bat, they never made serious inroads to the total despite another half-century from their man of the tournament – and the current leading run-scorer – Shakib Al Hasan. He became only the third player to have made over 600 runs in a Men’s World Cup, after Sachin Tendulkar in 2003 and Matthew Hayden in 2007.  

His 64 underpinned the Bangladesh innings but it was Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi who stole the show, taking superb figures of 6 for 35 as he decimated the Tigers’ line-up. The 19 year-old left-armer became the youngest man to take a five-wicket haul in World Cups and the first man ever to take six wickets in an ODI at the Home of Cricket.

The focus at Lord’s now turns to the World Cup Final on Sunday 14th July, when two teams from hosts England, Australia, India and New Zealand will battle it out to become world champions.