Pakistan’s fast bowling duo of Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed three wickets each as the side clawed their way back from the brink to seal a dramatic 11-run win over Bangladesh in a tense Asia Cup Super Fours encounter and booked a blockbuster title clash against archrivals India.
It is the first time in 17 editions of the Asia Cup that India and Pakistan will square off in a title clash. Shaheen led the charge by rattling Bangladesh’s top order, who also contributed to their own downfall with poor shot selection and miscommunication.
Shamim Hossain offered brief resistance, but his dismissal to Shaheen triggered a collapse, as Bangladesh ended up at 124/9 in 20 overs. While Shaheen took 3-17, Rauf ended up with 3-33, while Saim Ayub and Mohammad Nawaz were amongst the wicket-takers in the middle overs, as Pakistan held their nerve.
Bangladesh’s chase got off to a rocky start as Parvez Emon fell for a duck to Shaheen in the opening over. Saif Hassan briefly counterattacked with a six off Faheem Ashraf, before taking a four and six off Rauf.
After Pakistan burnt a review on a caught-behind appeal off Hassan, they soon made amends for it as Towhid Hridoy skied one to backward point off Shaheen. Rauf then removed Saif by having him caught at point, as Bangladesh ended the Power-play at 36/3.
Bangladesh’s chase suffered another setback as Mahedi Hasan perished attempting an ambitious inside-out loft over extra cover off Nawaz and gave a regulation catch to sweeper cover. Their chase continued to unravel as Nurul Hasan backed away to loft off Ayub, but only managed to slice it to wide long-off, while Jaker Ali holed out in the deep against the same bowler.
Shamim hung around to keep Bangladesh in the hunt, but he fell in a horror fashion to Shaheen in the 17th over, pre-mediating a reverse-lap and with no pace on offer, toe-ended straight to backward point. Rauf, who got lengthy treatment for cramps, struck by removing Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s off-stump bail and then castled Taskin Ahmed.
Though Rishad Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman hit some streaky boundaries at the end, it wasn’t enough for Bangladesh, as it paved the way for a high-stakes India-Pakistan showdown to determine the champions of the eight-team Asia Cup.
Previously, fast bowler Taskin Ahmed led a disciplined bowling effort, finishing with figures of 3-28 as Pakistan were restricted to 135/8. On a surface offering grip and turn, Bangladesh’s bowlers struck at regular intervals, with Taskin well-supported by Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, and Mahedi Hasan also taking key wickets.
Pakistan failed to gain any momentum in their innings and could only reach past the 130-mark, thanks to cameos of 31 and 25 from Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Nawaz, respectively. Pushed into batting first, Pakistan endured a shaky start as Taskin struck early to dismiss Sahibzada Farhan, while Mahedi removed Saim Ayub for his fourth duck in T20Is.
Fakhar Zaman and Salman Agha briefly lifted the pressure with some boundaries. However, the scoring remained subdued, with Pakistan crawling to just 27/2 at the end of the powerplay. In an attempt to break free in the seventh over, Fakhar could only hole out to wide long-off off Rishad, who again struck with his googly to trap Hussain Talat lbw.
When Rahman struck a crucial blow by removing Pakistan captain Agha and sent a largely Bangladesh supporting crowd into raptures, the end of the innings fell imminent. Shaheen Shah Afridi, promoted up the order, survived two dropped chances in the 12th over off Rishad and an lbw review that stayed not out due to the umpire’s call.
He briefly counterattacked with a towering six over deep midwicket but eventually fell to a full toss, skying a catch that wicketkeeper Jaker Ali completed near square leg off Taskin’s bowling.
Haris and Nawaz threatened to apply the desired finishing touches to Pakistan’s innings before the former was dismissed courtesy of a sharp reflex catch by Mahedi off his own bowling. Soon after, Emon produced a moment of brilliance at cover to send Nawaz packing and give Taskin his third wicket, as Pakistan huffed and puffed their way to posting 135.
Though the advantage was with Bangladesh at the halfway mark, a combination of insipid batting from them and spirited bowling by Pakistan meant they couldn’t prevent an India-Pakistan clash to decide the winners of the eight-team competition.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 135/8 in 20 overs (Mohammad Haris 31, Mohammad Nawaz 25; Taskin Ahmed 3-28, Rishad Hossain 2-18) beat Bangladesh 124/9 in 20 overs (Shamim Hossain 30, Saif Hassan 18; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-17, Haris Rauf 3-33) by 11 runs
