Bangladesh beat Pakistan, Shatter Pakistan's Final Dreams (بنگلہ دیش نے پاکستان کو شکست دیکر ایشیا ٹی ٹوئنٹی کپ سے باہر کردیا)

Bangladesh beat Pakistan, book Asia Cup final against India:

بنگلہ دیش نے پاکستان کو شکست دیکر ایشیا ٹی ٹوئنٹی کپ سے باہر کردیا

بنگلہ دیش کی جانب سے سومیا سرکار نے 48 رنز کی شاندار اننگز کھیلی۔

میرپور: ایشیا ٹی ٹوئنٹی کپ کے انتہائی اہم میچ میں بنگلا دیش نے پاکستان کو 5 وکٹ سے شکست دے کر ایونٹ سے باہر کردیا جب کہ بنگلہ دیش نے فائنل میں رسائی حاصل کرلی جہاں وہ بھارت سے مقابلہ کرے گا۔
BAN 131-5 (19.1 overs)
Anwar Ali in for the last over and bowls a full-toss. Its a FOUR and Bangladesh are through to the final against India.

PAK 129-6 (20 overs)

DHAKA: The Bengal Tigers shattered Pakistan's bid to stay in the running to play the final of the Asia Cup after achieving the 130 ruin target with 5 wickets and 5 balls to spare. 

For Pakistan, defending the 130 run target was a must in order to remain in the running to play the final of the Asia Cup.

With this defeat, Pakistan has lost 12 out of 13 times it was restricted under 130 runs when playing the first innings in a T20. 

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first but the batsmen were their usual self and kept giving away wickets early in the match. Pakistan were four down on 28 in the ninth over. Sarfraz Ahmed (58) and Shoaib Malik (41) then added some decency to the total with a 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Al-Amin Hossain bagged three wickets for Bangladesh while Arafat Sunny was the second best with two wickets in his four overs.

Bangladesh’s chase was led by man-of-the-match left-hand opener Soumya Sarkar’s 48. 

The match entered a critical stage with two overs and 18 runs left for Bangladesh’s victory. Muhammad Sami bowled the penultimate over and gave away 15 runs courtesy two no-balls and two boundaries.

With only three runs needed in the last over, Anwar Ali was struck for a boundary on the very first ball by Mahmudullah.

Bangladesh will now face India in the March 6 final. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will take on each other in a dead rubber on March 4.

Man of the match is Soumya Sarkar.

Team:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed.

Pakistan was unable to a repeat performance of 2012 when it had won against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan lost its earlier game against India, but survived a match against the UAE.

India has so far remained the tournament’s unbeatable champion winning all three matches it played.

Bangladesh star bowler Mustafizur Rehman will not play the match today, after he suffered an injury during a match with Sri Lanka. Rehman played a vital part in the team’s victory.

Pakistan have brought in Anwar Ali in place of Mohammad Nawaz.

'India defeat a wake-up call'

Former senior players of the Pakistan cricket team are vouching their support for the green shirts. 

Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam said, "Defeat from India served as a wake up call for Pakistan. Senior players have begun to play responsibly."

Ramiz Raja, a former Pakistan cricketer and commentator, said that the Pakistani batting line lacks technique. "If Pakistan loses, this will be the first major setback before the World Cup."

Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said, "The first six overs are critical. If the batsmen make 130 to 140 runs, the bowlers will be able to defend the score."