Pakistan fail to reach Asia Cup final

ABU DHABI: Pakistan's journey in the Asia Cup concluded after a 37-run defeat in the chase of 240 runs against Bangladesh at the Abu Dhabi Stadium on Wednesday. The green shirts managed to score 202 runs courtesy opener Imamul Haq's 83 runs innings.

Mustafizur Rahman took four wickets, Mehidy Hasan Miraz bagged two while Rubel Hossain, Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar took one wicket apiece. A 67-run stand between opener Imamul Haq and Shoaib Malik provided a temporary relief to the green shirts after back-to-back wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam.

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed scored 10 runs off seven balls in the match. "I am not feeling good. As a captain, I didn't do well. So I think as a team and as a captain, I didn't lead well. We didn't field well, our batting collapsed and as a team, we didn't do well in any department," he admitted. The Pakistan skipper said that the team needs to play well to win against good teams, reported Geo News.

Opener Imamul Haq's 71 runs stand with Asif Ali again tilted the game in Pakistan's favour before off-spinner Mehidy Hasan dismissed Ali with a quicker googly. Bangladesh pulled up a fighting total as the 99 run-knock by Mushfiqur Raheem neutralised the pressure created by Pakistan after taking quick three wickets within five overs of the game.

Mohammad Mithun assisted the senior player with his 60 runs off 84 balls contribution, including four boundaries on the strike rate of 71.42 before he was caught and bowled by fast bowler Hasan Ali.

Pakistan’s fiery start in the game through its back-to-back wickets was neutralised by the Tiger in the later stage of the game. Two thick edges of Mushfiqur were missed by Pakistan due to one or no slip.

Junaid Khan made a strong comeback in the place of Muhammad Aamir by taking four wickets off 19 balls in nine overs. He dismissed Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah.

Pakistan’s fiery start in the game through its back-to-back wickets was neutralised by the Tiger in the later stage of the game. Two thick edges of Mushfiqur were missed by Pakistan due to one or no slip.

Junaid Khan made a strong comeback in the place of Muhammad Aamir by taking four wickets off 19 balls in nine overs. He dismissed Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah.

Pakistan were handed a nine-wicket thumping at the hands of arch-rivals India on Sunday while Bangladesh and Afghanistan played a last ball thrilling encounter with Bangladesh winning the game by three runs.