Bangladesh has been the dark horse as nobody thought they had it in them to do anything substantial this time around in the ongoing Asia Cup. Fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman’s impressive figures of 4/43 in the final Super Four encounter helped his side, Bangladesh on Wednesday to register a convincing 37-run victory over Pakistan to enter the finals.
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh got off to a horrendous start, as they lost Soumya Sarkar (0), Mominul Haque (5 off 4 balls) and Liton Das (6 off 16 balls) in the first five overs itself. However, Mushfiqur Rahim (99 off 116 balls) and Mohammad Mithun (60 off 84 balls) stitched a brilliant 144-run partnership for the fourth wicket, helping their side post a competitive target of 240 for Pakistan.
All-rounder Mahmudullah (25 off 31 balls) and captain Mashrafe Mortaza (13 off 13 balls) failed to capitalise on a solid platform provided by Rahim and Mithun, as their side got bundled out in 48.5 overs. For Pakistan, however, left-arm pacer Junaid Khan took 4 wickets while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali claimed two wickets each.
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Defending 240 runs, Bangladesh made an early dent into the Pakistan chase, taking three wickets in the first five overs. Fakhar Zaman (1 off 4 balls), Babar Azam (1off 3 balls), and Sarfraz Ahmed (10 off 7 balls) got out at regular intervals, leaving their team reeling at 18/3 after 3.3 overs.
After the early debacle, right-hand batsman Shoaib Malik along with opener Imam-ul-Haq steadied Pakistan’s innings, notching up a 67-run partnership for the fourth wicket. But Mortaza took a stunning catch of Malik to bring his side back into the game. As the wickets kept falling at the other end, Imam crumbled under pressure and got stumped off Mahmudullah for 83 runs off 105 balls. For Bangladesh, Rahman got 4 wickets, Mehidy Hasan took two wickets while Rubel Hossain, Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar claimed a wicket each.
Rahim was adjudged as the man of the match for his brilliant batting performance.
Bangladesh will now face India on September 28 at the Dubai International Stadium to compete for the coveted trophy.