Pakistan began their ICC World T20 campaign by posting a strong total and beating Bangladesh by 55 runs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. Captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and chose to bat first, then made a 19-ball 49 as his team scored 201 for 5. Mohammad Hafeez (64 off 42 balls) and Ahmed Shehzad (52 off 39 balls) both hit quick fifties, and Shoaib Malik pitched in with a late 15 off 9.

Bangladesh got off to a moderate start, but lost wickets at regular intervals to reach 74/4 at the end of the 10th over. By the end of the 13th, experts were Pakistan’s win “all but assured”, as the run rate climbed and Bangladesh struggled at 87-4. The team lost two more wickets and their chase fizzled out as, as Pakistan claimed an easy victory as Bangladesh ended up with a score of 146/6. Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny picked up two wickets apiece for Pakistan.

Bangladesh had topped their group in the qualifying rounds by beating Netherlands and Oman. The two teams last met at the Asia Cup, where Bangladesh beat Pakistan by five wickets.