Pakistan's pace pair, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi, each captured three wickets as the team mounted a stunning comeback to register an 11-run win over Bangladesh in a thrilling Super Fours match of the Men's T20 Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, paving the way for a high-octane final against arch-rivals India.
This is the first instance in 17 Asia Cups that India and Pakistan will face each other in the title-decider. Shaheen led Pakistan's bowling attack by tearing through Bangladesh's top order, with Bangladesh's own shortcomings of shot selection and miscommunication helping him.
Shamim Hossain provided some opposition, but his dismissal to Shaheen led to a collapse, as Bangladesh found themselves at 124/9 in their 20 overs. Shaheen ended with good figures of 3-17, as did Rauf with 3-33.
Earlier, Taskin Ahmed led Bangladesh's bowling on a worn pitch, delivering a disciplined 3-28 spell as Pakistan were restricted to 135/8. Bangladesh's attack, thanks to a surface that provided turn and grip, struck intermittently with assistance from Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, and Mahedi Hasan, each of them claiming crucial wickets.
Pakistan's innings never gathered momentum and barely managed to reach 130, Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Nawaz being the only two players to make significant contributions of 31 and 25 runs respectively. Though Bangladesh had an upper hand at the midpoint of the chase, a mix of subpar batting on their part and consistent bowling by Pakistan ensured that the door was left open for a nail-biting India-Pakistan final to the eight-team tournament.
