Pakistan beat Bangladesh to set up final showdown with India

Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took three wickets each to lead the fightback as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 11 runs to book their berth in the final of Asia Cup on Thursday.

Defending an under-par total of 135, Shaheen-led bowling attack wrapped up Bangladesh's innings for 124/9  to set up a mouth-watering title showdown with the mighty India.   

Defending, Shaheen gave Pakistan a perfect start by sending back Parvez Hossain Emon for a duck to the pavilion of the second ball of the innings.

Shaheen removed Tauheed Hridoy also in the fifth over to give Pakistan the second breakthrough.

Haris  Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz picked up Saif Hasan and Mahedi Hasan respectively to reduce Bangladesh to 44/4.

It looked as if there was a contest between Pakistan and Bangladesh to see who could play worse on a given day. 

Nurul Hasan and Shamim Hossain kept the chase alive with a 19-run stand for a brief time before Ayub broke the promising partnership. Jakir looked in hurry as he played aerial shots before finally being caught, handing Ayub his second scalp.

The responsibility of taking Bangladesh through came on Shamim. He waged a lone battle. Bangladesh’s hope perished as the fighting knock of Shamim came to an abrupt end. He was caught at short fine leg while trying to play a reverse sweep against Shaheen.

Rauf rattled the stumps of Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Taskin Ahmed to complete his three-wicket haul and complete the formalities. Ayub bagged two wickets.

Earlier, Pakistan got off to a nightmarish start as they lost two wickets with just five runs on the board. It was Taskin, who triggered the collapse with the dismissal of Sahibzada Farhan.

After that Bangladeshi bowlers ripped through the fragile batting line-up as they found a chink in the armour of Pakistan. Their problem with the opening partnership has haunted them throughout the tournament.

This match turned out to be no different. Farhan tried to slice an out-going delivery of Taskin over the third man and Rishad Hossain took a spectacular catch to get rid of him.

Farhan’s wicket brought Pakistan under pressure as they knew it was a must-win match for both the teams with the winner taking it all. Since both the teams had two points each, a win for either of them would seal a berth in the final against India, who are unbeaten in the tournament.

Saim Ayub’s bad form with the bat continued as he was dismissed for another naught, fourth time in the series and five times in the last seven matches.

Despite being in horrible form in so many matches why Pakistan are persisting with Ayub remains a big question. He did what he is best at, getting out for a duck as he holed out to Rishad off Mehdi.

With two wickets down, Pakistan were pushed on the back foot from the beginning. They needed someone to play a sheet-anchor role. Fakhar Zaman and Salman Agha knuckled down in a bid to bring the faltering innings back on track.

They showed some resistance and added 24 runs for the third wicket. When they were looking set, Hossain struck to heap more misery on a stuttering Pakistan.

Fakhar tried to play an inside out shot but the ball spun into him and he lost the control of the shot as the ball landed in the safe hands of Tanzim at the long off.

Pakistan needed to build a partnership and they were losing the wickets at regular intervals. A charged-up Bangladeshi bowling attack was tightening the noose around their neck gradually.

The need of the hour was a big partnership. Hussain Talat, who was the rescue man in the last match against Sri Lanka, failed to create the same magic as he was taken by Saif off Hossain, reducing Pakistan to 34/4.

Pakistan had no clue how to revive the innings but with the captain out there in the middle, their hopes were lingering with a thread.  The onus of reviving the innings came on Mohammad Harris and Salman Agha.

They also failed to do much as Mustafizur had Agha caught by wicket-keeper Jakir to break the partnership, which had just started blooming.  Every time Pakistan tried to take a stride forward they were pegged back by the two. The harder they were trying to develop a partnership, the worse it was getting for them.

Pakistan were 49/5 at the half-way mark. The stakes were high and Pakistan needed to go all guns blazing to keep their hopes alive. Their lower order clicked and did the trick for them.

Haris led the charge with a watchful 23-ball 31. He shared a couple of big partnerships and ignited a brief optimism in the camp. Shaheen Afridi was promoted up the order to stop the bleeding.

Bangladesh, perhaps, became complacent and spurned a golden chance to thwart Pakistan to a below par total and leaked a massive 87 runs in the last ten overs.

 Haris and Shaheen added a valuable 40 runs for the sixth to consolidate the innings. They took the score past the three-digit mark, which was looking like a distant dream.

Shaheen’s late blitz spurred the run rate and took the pressure off. He smacked two towering sixes in his 13-ball 19. Shaheen has been a rescue man for Pakistan throughout the tournament. He scored unbeaten 33 against India and followed it up with another unbeaten score of 29 versus UAE.

Mohammad Nawaz played a cameo of 25 and Fahim Ashraf also chipped in with a useful contribution as Pakistan reached a respectable total of 135/8. Taskin picked up the wickets of Shaheen and Nawaz to complete his three-wicket haul, while Mahedi and Rishad took two each.