Bangladesh's abysmal run in the ICC World Cup continued yesterday with a seven-wicket defeat against Pakistan in Kolkata. The result means the Tigers became the first team whose semifinals dream was dashed in the 10-team tournament.

Batting failure was on display once again at the Eden Gardens, playing a significant role in Bangladesh's sixth consecutive defeat. Pakistan, on the other hand, will be relieved to have finally returned to winning ways following four successive defeats.

Bangladesh bowlers looked helpless in the evening as Pakistan easily chased down a 205-run target with a whopping 17.3 overs to spare, riding on a flying 128-run opening stand between Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique. Mehedi Hasan Miraz took all three Pakistan wickets but it only delayed the inevitable.

Earlier, Bangladesh started the game with the boost of winning the toss. Choosing to bat first was the way to go but the Tigers were soon in troubled waters, having lost three inside six overs with just 23 runs on the board. 

First to depart was Tanzid Hasan Tamim when he was trapped in front by Shaheen Shah Afridi to become his 100th ODI scalp. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim came and went in quick succession, with the latter not being able to capitalise on his promotion in the batting order. Mushfiqur, however, was undone by a superb Haris Rauf delivery.

The same cannot be said for Shanto, though, as a soft dismissal brought his downfall. Shanto, predicted to be the leading performer with the willow for Bangladesh, failed to reach double digit for the sixth time in a row following his fifty against Afghanistan in their tournament opener.

Liton Das, meanwhile, looked solid and staged a consolidation act with in-form Mahmudullah Riyad, who was handed a deserving promotion at number five for the first time in this World Cup.

But as the Tigers were beginning to find some stable footing, another soft dismissal sent Liton packing for 45, with his team at 102 for four inside 21 overs. A stunned Liton remained rooted in the middle for around half-a-minute before taking the long walk towards the dressing room. 

Mahmudullah, however, continued his fine run in the World Cup but his innings ended at an untimely 56, with Afridi squaring him up to bag his third victim. Shakib (43) and Miraz (25) later put in some effort to help their side post 200-plus but it was not enough on batting-friendly conditions and against a Pakistan side desperate for a turnaround -- seemingly way more than Bangladesh.