Pakistan beats Bangladesh in Asia Cup Final

A  fine bowling display by Bangladesh restricted Pakistan to 236/9 in their 50 overs after the hosts won the toss and decided to field in the final of the Asia Cup. Choked by the disciplined performance by the Tigers, Pakistan struggled to score fluently on what initially seemed like a harmless Shere Bangla pitch.

Pakistan lost wickets regularly and even though there were a few partnerships none were significant enough to put any pressure on Bangladesh. Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed (46 off 52), given a game in place of pacer Wahab Riaz, and Shahid Afridi ( 32 off 22) delivered some late blows to boost Pakistan’s chances in the game.

Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim sounded confident about Bangladesh’s prospects of an historic victory in its first Asia Cup final after having won the toss and putting Pakistan into bat. Rahim made no changes to the side that beat Sri Lanka two days ago, while Pakistan brought in specialist wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed in place of left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz who went for plenty against India.

Bangladesh has never won a major title, and the expectations of home fans have ballooned in the past week. Pakistan won their round-robin match by 21 runs, and Rahim acknowledged Pakistan was the favorite in the final. But he was reluctant to concede anything else.

Senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan paid respect to Bangladesh for its gutsy performances and expected a hard-fought final. “You see the match against us, then against India, it was wonderful to chase a big score,” Khan said. “Their teamwork is tremendous; it is certainly a great strength that they are chasing well. So I think it will be a tough match.”

He praised Bangladesh’s consistency. “They came close to a victory against us by chasing a respectable total, then chased down India’s mammoth total. Even in a rain-affected match, they eased past Sri Lanka as if they like to chase any total,” Khan said.

Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to 234/8. Final over by Aizaz Cheema was nail biting with match result swinging after every delivery. At the end, it was victory for Pakistan with 2 runs only. Pakistan won its last Asia Cup in 2000. This was their second win.