“What a sound. Wow. That’s a proper whack,” thundered Ravi Shastri on-air after Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman showcased his six-hitting prowess throughout the lately concluded ICC World Cup 2023 encounter between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Ending its longest dropping streak within 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 occasion on the Eden Gardens.

Openers Zaman and Abdullah Shafique smashed half-centuries to verify Pakistan registered its third win of the World Cup. After Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr shared six wickets to limit Bangladesh to 204 in 45.1 overs, the onus was on Pakistan’s openers to offer the group a promising begin in Kolkata. Recalled into the aspect in Pakistan’s must-win conflict, opener Zaman laid the muse for a profitable run-chase along with his blistering knock.

ALSO READ: What are Pakistan’s chances for World Cup semi-finals after massive win over Bangladesh?

Shastri and Waqar react as Fakhar smokes ‘largest’ 6 of World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens

Launching an early assault on the Bangladeshi bowlers, Zaman smashed his first boundary of the match within the fourth over. The Pakistan opener smoked a monstrous six off Taskin Ahmed within the first powerplay. Even Bangladesh’s Ahmed had a smile on his face after he was smashed for a large 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 largest six of this match, nevertheless, belongs to India’s Shreyas Iyer, who hit a 101m six towards Afghanistan.

Shane Watson, who too was within the commentary field when this occurred, had his mouth opened in absolute amazement. “There are not too many batters in the world who can do that to that ball,” he stated.

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. accomplished 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 factors desk.

‘Told Abdullah that I’ll see off…

Zaman is second within the listing of batters with most sixes by a Pakistani batter in a single innings on the World Cup. He is simply behind former Pakistani batter Imran Nazir, who clobbered seven sixes towards Zimbabwe within the 2007 version of the showpiece occasion. “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 stated after being adjudged the Player of the Match.