Pakistan beat Bangladesh, set to face India for first time in Asia Cup final

DUBAI: Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 11 runs on Thursday in a must-win Super Fours match to reach the Asia Cup 2025 final, where they are set to face arch-rivals India.

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf took three wickets each to help Pakistan defend a 136-run target at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The victory propelled Pakistan into the final, where they will be locking horns with arch-rivals India for the first time in the continental tournament’s history.

Chasing a modest 136-run target, Bangladesh could accumulate 124/9 in their allotted 20 overs despite Shamim Hossain’s gutsy 30-run knock.

Bangladesh had a dismal start to the pursuit as Shaheen dismissed Parvez Hossain Emon for a duck on the fifth delivery of the first over.

His opening partner, Saif Hassan (18), then shared a one-sided 22-run partnership with Towhid Hridoy (five) before both perished in quick succession as Bangladesh slipped to 29/3 in 5.1 overs.

Mahedi Hasan (11) and Nurul Hasan then attempted to anchor the run chase as they batted cautiously to add 15 runs for the fourth wicket until Mohammad Nawaz got rid of the former in the eighth over.

Shamim, who walked out to bat at number six, toAok the reins of Bangladesh’s pursuit and kept them in the hunt until falling victim to Shaheen in the 17th over.

He remained the top-scorer for Bangladesh with a gutsy 30 off 25 deliveries with the help of two boundaries.

Following his departure, Haris Rauf struck twice in his third over to reduce Bangladesh further to 101/9 in 17.4 overs.

Shaheen and Haris jointly led Pakistan’s bowling charge with three wickets, followed by Saim Ayub with two, while Nawaz chipped in with one scalp.

Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Jaker Ali’s decision to field first paid dividends as his team’s bowling unit restricted Pakistan to 135/8 in 20 overs.

Pakistan got off to a disastrous start to their innings as they lost in-form opener Sahibzada Farhan (four) and struggling Saim Ayub (zero) in the first two overs, with just five runs on the board.

Following the early stutter, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha joined experienced opener Fakhar Zaman in the middle to stabilise the innings, but the duo could add 24 to the total as the latter was dismissed by Rishad Hossain in the seventh over.

Rishad struck again in his next over, dismissing Pakistan’s last match hero Hussain Talat (three) and bringing the total down to 33/4 in 8.1 overs.

Pakistan captain Agha and wicketkeeper batter Haris then shared a brief 16-run partnership until Mustafizur Rahman got the former caught behind in the 11th over with just 49 runs on the board. Agha scored a cautious 19 off 23 deliveries, featuring two fours. With the scoreboard reading 49/5 in 10.5 overs, Shaheen Shah Afridi was promoted and sent into bat at number seven ahead of regular all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf in a bid to lift the score.

The left-handed batter smashed two sixes on his way to a 13-ball 19 and fell to Taskin Ahmed in the 14th over.

Pakistan’s biggest partnership came for the seventh wicket when Haris and Nawaz added 38 runs in 24 balls, with the former leading the charge. Haris, who appeared to have settled down, was eventually caught and bowled by Mahedi Hasan in the 18th over and walked back after top-scoring for Pakistan with a gutsy 31 off 23 deliveries with the help of three fours and a six.

Nawaz followed suit in the next over as he skied one off Taskin Ahmed and was brilliantly caught by Parvez Hossain Emon after scoring 25 off 15 deliveries, comprising two sixes and a four. Taskin was the standout bowler for Bangladesh, taking three wickets for just 28 runs in his four overs, followed by Mahedi Hasan and Rishad with two each, while Mustafizur Rahman chipped in with one.