Asia Cup: Bangladesh stun Pakistan to reach final

DHAKA:

Bangladesh’s lower-order batsmen kept their cool under pressure to beat Pakistan by five wickets in Dhaka on Wednesday, securing them a place in the Asia Cup final.

Soumya Sarkar, Bangladesh’s highest scorer in the match with 48 runs, helped his team to 131-5 in 19.1 overs after Pakistan had been restricted to 129-7 at the packed Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah Riyad struck Anwar Ali for a boundary to complete the victory and stay unbeaten on 22.

The hosts will play their second Asia Cup final against India on March 6.

“It’s a big win for us,” Mashrafe said after the match. “This was like a semi-final. (I) told the boys to just grab it, because we knew there would be plenty of such matches in the future. There was a bit of pressure in the middle, but we coped well.”

Captain Shahid Afridi though rued his side’s poor batting. “We made too many mistakes. It wasn’t a good total, but the bowlers did superbly”

Earlier, Bangladesh’s pace bowlers demolished Pakistan’s openers as the side were restricted to 28-4 before Ahmed and Shoaib Malik shared 70 runs for the fifth wicket to help them recover from their slow start and set a 130 run target.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2016.