Bangaldesh Beat Pakistan, Will Meet India in Asia Cup Final

Bangladesh pulled off a 37-run victory over Pakistan in their final Super Four match in the ACC Asia Cup, a match that they had to win to reach the finals. Having done so, they will now face off against India in the hopes of walking away with their first ever tournament title, having finished runners up twice before. The team has been plagued with injury worries of some its key players like Shakib Al Hassan and Tamim Iqbal, but managed to restrict Pakistan to 202 runs in 50 overs to win a do-or-die match yesterday. India had rested many of its key players in their last match which was against Afghanistan, and even though they had already cemented a place in the finals, ended up drawing against their up-and-coming opponents.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bangladesh got off to a shaky start that saw them lose three early wickets with hardly any runs on the board. It was the batting pair of Mushfiqur Rahman and Mohammad Mithun who provided some stability, scoring 99 and 60 runs respectively. However, after both of these batsmen got out in quick succession, there was another batting collapse that saw the team end with 239 runs in 48.5 overs. Pakistan came out to bat in a display that looked as though they were feeling the pressure of this must-win game. Although Imam-ul-Haq managed to score 83 runs at the top, wickets fell all around him, and even veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik was unable to keep his wicket and provide some middle order rescue action, getting out for 30 runs off 51 deliveries. From this point, the fall of wickets seemed to be a regular occurrence, and even though they managed to not be all out, tentative batting saw them get to a position where they needed well over 12 runs an over with a few overs to go. In the end, they failed to reach the target set for them, and bowed out to a superior Bangladeshi side.

The Final of the Asia Cup will be played tomorrow at 17:00 IST.