Pakistan World Cup preparation takes another hit as warm-up match succumbs to Cardiff rain

It means that Pakistan will head into their first game – against the West Indies at Trent Bridge on Friday – having lost all of their last 11 completed 50-over matches

Pakistan’s World Cup preparations took another hit as their final pre-tournament warm-up game was abandoned on Sunday.

Sarfraz Ahmed’s side had been due to take on Bangladesh in Cardiff, but the match was called off without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain at Sophia Gardens.

The weather-ruined encounter is the latest blow to hit Pakistan’s chaotic buildup to the competition. They were beaten by Afghanistan on Friday, with Gulbadin Naib’s team chasing down the 1992 winners’ total of 262 to win by three wickets.

It means that Pakistan will head into their first game – against the West Indies at Trent Bridge on Friday, where they conceded 444 runs against England in 50 overs back in 2016, having lost all of their last 11 completed ODIs.

^{Afghanistan's spinners restricted Pakistan to 262 at Bristol on Friday.}

Their last 50-over victory came at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on 27 January, when Pakistan beat South Africa by eight wickets.

Despite this relative disarray, Pakistan’s batting – led by Babar Azam and Imam-Ul-Haq – has been in supreme working order; in four successive defeats against England in this month’s ODI series, the subcontinental side’s lowest total was 297.

However, to help reinforce a bowling attack routinely plundered by England, veteran paceman Wahab Riaz has been recalled for the tournament; he has replaced fellow left-armer Junaid Khan, who responded to his dropping with a cryptic message on Twitter, taping his mouth shut.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, face India on Tuesday in their final warm-up game ahead of their first official encounter on Sunday against South Africa.