Asia Cup: Bangladesh win thriller vs Pakistan to set up title date with India

Mirpur A spirited Bangladesh continuedtheir giant killing act on Wednesday with a stunning fivewicket win overPakistan in a lowscoring thriller to set up a title clashagainst India in the Asia Cup T20 cricket tournament hereNeeding 130 to win Bangladesh won the match in 191overs with Mahmudullah Riyadh 22 not out off 15 balls andMashrafe Mortaza 12 off 7 balls adding 27 in only 15 oversto help the hosts overwhelm the target with five balls tospareBangladeshrsquos Mahmudullah celebrates after winning the Asia Cup Twenty20 match against Pakistan in Dhaka Bangladesh on Wednesday PicAP PTIIt was a tense final few overs as Bangladesh withered thestorm off Mohammed Amir 226 in 4 overs after they looked introuble at 104 for 5 in 172 oversIn came skipper Mortaza with Amir on rampage in the 18thover The skipper hit two backtoback boundaries off Amirbefore playing two dotsWith Bangladesh requiring 18 off the last two oversMohammed Sami had Mortaza caught at longoff but to thebowlers horror it was called a noball for overstepping asthe equation came down from 15 off nine balls to 12 from nineballs with the skipper and Mahmudullah running a coupleWith nine required off seven balls Mahmudullah bisecteda fuller delivery from Sami behind point boundary and to thejoy of the crowd it was too adjudged a noballAt the start of the final over Bangladesh required threeruns which was a mere formality It was Mahmudullah whothrashed Anwar Ali over deep midwicket boundary to finish offthe chase in styleChasing the fighting total Tamim Iqbal 8 flicked Amirbehind square for a six but was trapped leg before in the verynext overLefthanded opener Soumya Sarkar who has had a quietAsia Cup till now hit a couple of boundaries to get into thegroove as the inform Sabbir Rahman walked in at the otherendSabbir 14 did not have a great day even though 33crucial runs were added for the second wicket with SarkarFinally Sabbir was bowled as he jumped out to a flighteddelivery from Afridi that went in with the angleThe dismissal failed to put brakes on Sarkar as hecontinued to play his natural strokes The shot of the matchwas a six over deep midwicket off seamer Anwar Ali which wasexecuted with effortless ease The final delivery of the 10thover saw Sarkar play another pull shot for boundary Fifteen runs came off the Anwar over as Pakistans chances of making it to the final looked bleaked from here onBut Mohammed Amirs third and fourth overs were lastthrow of dice by Afridi In the 14th over Amir bowled aperfect yorker to uproot Sarkars leg stumpSarkar scored a runaball 48 with five fours and a sixBangladesh were 83 for three and soon became 88 for 4 whenformer skipper Mushfiqur Rahim 12 played an atrociousreverse sweep to be adjudged leg before off Shoaib MalikShakib al Hasan 8 tried a lapshot in Amirs final overonly to be bowledEarlier Sarfraz Ahmeds composed unbeaten knock of 58saw Pakistan get to a par score of 129 for seven in 20 oversafter Shahid Afridi elected to batAl Amin Hossain 325 was the most successful bowlerwhile leftarm spinner Arafat Sunny chipped in with twowicketsIt was yet another disastrous start by the Pakistaniswho were reduced to 28 for four but Sarfraz along with ShoaibMalik 41 repaired the damageSarfraz hit five fours and two sixes in his 42ballknock while Malik had five boundaries and a six during his 30balls inningsThe duo added 70 in 82 overs which helped them recoverPakistan after the early dismissals of Khurram Manzoor 1Sharjeel Khan 10 Mohammed Hafeez 1 and Umar Akmal 4Hafeez though was little unlucky as it was a poordecision with the delivery from Mortaza hitting the batsman inthe box region and looked like travelling over the stumpsAkmals rush of blood cost him dear as he tried a flasyshot only to be caught at the deep point by Shakib Al HasanSharjeel tried to sweep a straight deliver from leftarmspinner Arafat Sunny while the real beauty was the one thatgot Khurram outAlAmin hit the deck hard on good length and the ballgrew big on Khurram who nibbled at it to give Mushfiqur Rahiman easy catch behind the stumpsHowever Malik who has been in decent form in thetournament joined hands wih Sarfraz and they batted sensiblyThe first 10 overs saw Pakistan tottering at 30 for fourand in the next 10 they got another 99 runs losing only threewicketsBrief ScoresPakistan 129 for seven in 20 overs Sarfraz Ahmed 58not out Shoaib Malik 41 AlAmin Hossain 325 Arafat Sunny235Bangladesh 131 for five in 191 overs Soumya Sarkar 48Mahmudullah 22 not out Mohammad Amir 226