A small but passionate group of Bangladesh fans turned Dharamshala into Mirpur yesterday with their hooting and cheering outside the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, celebrating Bangladesh’s comprehensive six-wicket win over Afghanistan.

Before Bangladesh’s opening World Cup match against Afghanistan, there was apprehension about how well Shakib Al Hasan would handle the pressure as a captain.

Aiden Markram smashed a 49-ball hundred, the fastest in the history of the men’s 50-overs World Cup, as South Africa’s rampaging top order helped them thrash Sri Lanka by 102 runs in their tournament opener on Saturday.

South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 102 runs at the Cricket World Cup on Saturday after posting the highest total in the history of the tournament of 428-5.

The last time Bangladesh played in Dharamshala was back in 2016 during the ICC T20 World Cup. In that match against Oman, Tamim Iqbal made history by becoming the first Bangladeshi to score a century in the format. Even though Tamim is not a part of this World Cup campaign but, thanks to the fans, his presence was felt at the picturesque Dharamshala stadium during Bangladesh’s match yesterday. A number of Bangladesh supporters in the gallery were seen holding up a placard written, ‘We will never forget you’ with Tamim’s picture, reminiscing the contributions of the former Bangladesh captain.

A placard saying ‘We love you Miraz’ held by a Bangladesh supporter at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday reflected the amount of trust and reliability that all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz has been able to gain in recent times.

As for his batting, he said: "I always play at number eight so it was a great opportunity to bat in the top order...it's a great moment for me to perform."

This was Afghanistan's 13th successive defeat at the World Cup, a run stretching back to 2015.

South Africa batters belted the Sri Lankan bowlers all around the park in their opening World Cup fixture at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday.

South Africa batter Aiden Markram smashed the fastest century in World Cup history in their opening fixture against Sri Lanka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday.

Bangladesh ODI skipper Shakib Al Hasan said he is certain that his fast bowlers will have a lot to say going forward in the tournament after Bangladesh got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with a six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Dharamshala on Saturday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated the Bangladesh cricket team for their first win in the ICC World Cup 2023

With no direct flights available to Dharamshala from Dhaka, this reporter and a colleague from the office had no other choice but to take a flight to Delhi on October 6 and then go to Dharamshala by road.

De Kock put on 204 runs for the second wicket with van der Dussen.

Of the 15-man Pakistan squad, only all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Agha Salman had ever visited the country before this World Cup.

Shakib raised his World Cup wickets tally to 37 in the prestigious event, surpassing a few greats of the game.

The Tigers handed a six-wicket defeat to Afghanistan with a whopping 92 balls to spare.

Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha did not have to address questions about the creaky batting unit, which has recently blown hot and cold.

"I'm expecting some high scoring on this ground. The combination we will decide tomorrow morning and see the wicket again, because the curator said he'll do a little bit of work today as well on that wicket."

Both sides would love early points and Afghanistan’s spin threat may once again dictate Bangladesh’s batting template.