Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 11 runs to secure a place in the Asia Cup final against India.
India had already clinched its place after defeating both Pakistan and Bangladesh earlier. India has one match remaining in the ‘Super Fours’ stage, against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Unbelievably, this will be the first time in 17 editions of the Asia Cup that the two arch rivals India and Pakistan will face each other in the final.
It was an inspired effort from Pakistan on Thursday, needing to fight back after looking in trouble batting first. At one stage, Bangladesh had reduced Pakistan to 71/6 before some timely hitting from the lower order.
Wicket-keeper Mohammad Haris scored 31 off 23 and Mohammad Nawaz had an important cameo with 25 off 15 as well. Taskin Ahmed returned after sitting against India to finish with figures of 3-28 from four overs.
Shaheen Shah Afridi set the tone with the ball for Pakistan, taking two wickets inside the PowerPlay to put Bangladesh under pressure at 29/3 in 5.1 overs.
Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub and Nawaz steadily chipped away thereafter to claim six wickets. The spinners in particular were very economical.
The final is on Sunday.
Will Politics Take Back Seat For Final?
There has been plenty of extracurricular activities in the first two meetings in this tournament between India and Pakistan.
‘Handshake Gate’ was the talk of the first match, with the two captains not shaking hands before the toss and the customary post-match handshakes not being observed either.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav dedicated the victory to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and the armed forces. There was also a specific political reference that Pakistan later issued an official complaint to the ICC about.
Pakistan was taken by surprise and disappointed by India’s decision to do so, captain Salman Agha declining the post-match press conference. They then skipped the pre-match press conference for their next match against hosts UAE as well.
In the second match, Pakistan looked to show a more aggressive side. Sahibzada Farhan did a celebration while batting that raised eye brows while Haris Rauf was caught on camera doing something that could be regarded as very offensive.
Speaking after the match, Abhishek Sharma specifically stated that he did not like the way the Pakistan players came at them and so wanted to give it back to them with his bat. He did that with a sparkling 74 off just 39 balls.
India won both meetings convincingly but Pakistan will be hoping it has its best saved for last.
