PAK vs BAN, Asia Cup 2023: Unstoppable Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah rattle Bangladesh top order

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Pakistan pace trio of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah are unstoppable at the moment and wreaked havoc once again in their side's first Super Fours match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday.

Bangladesh won the toss at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, expecting to pile up easy runs on the board, but Pakistan pacers once again had their own plans.

After Shaheen Afridi bowled a maiden first over of the match, Naseem Shah struck on the first ball of the second over to get rid of Mehidy Hasan Miraz who scored a hundred in the previous match against Afghanistan. Miraz ended up chipping a good length delivery into the hands of Fakhar Zaman at mid-wicket to depart for a first ball duck.

Next up, Shaheen Afridi beautifully set up a rampaging Liton Das who hit four boundaries en route to his 13-ball 16. He bowled a slow cutter which beat the outside edge on the fourth ball of the fifth over. The next delivery was quick and climbed onto the batter after pitching. Litton Das tried fending but was outdone by the extra bounce, edging the ball into the gloves of wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan.

After Naseem and Afridi, it was Haris Rauf's turn to take a wicket. He was introduced in the eight over and it took him just three balls to get rid of Mohammad Naim. The batter was late on executing his pull shot as the 140 kmph delivery took a top-edge and ballooned up to the left of Rauf who took the catch with perfection to bring up his 50th ODI scalp in his 27th ODI match.

A 145 kmph screamer on the first ball of his second over, castled the stumps of Towhid Hridoy. A length delivery nipped back in and travelled through his bat and clean bowled the right-hander who was too late on working the ball on the leg side. With the fall of Hridoy's wickets, Bangladesh were reduced to 47/4 in 9.1 overs.

The assault from Pakistan pacers left them gasping at the end of the first powerplay. This has been the trend this Asia Cup 2023. Pakistan reduced Nepal to 14/3 in 1.4 overs before bundling them out for 104 in 23.4 overs. India were left reeling at 66/4 in 14.1 overs. Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya forged a 138-run partnership but Pakistan still managed to bundled out India for 266 in 48.5 overs. Pakistan pacers have picked 19 off the 24 wickets (all 10 vs India) taken by their team in the tournament so far.