Bangladesh set final clash with India as they recorded an overwhelming by five wickets over Pakistan in the 8th match of Micromax Asia Cup T20 held tonight at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.
The high voltage final will be held on Sunday (March 6) at the same venue.
Chasing a winning target of 130 runs, Bangladesh reached home making 131 runs for five wickets with five balls remaining.
The whole jump-paced stadium burst into joy when Mahmudullah sent the ball over the fence to confirm the dramatic victory of the team.
Bangladesh lost the first wicket of opener Tamim Iqbal for 7 and then first down Sabbir Rahman (14). TAmim, who returned in the squad after paternal leave, was trapped leg before wicket by Mohammad Irfan while Sabbir was clean bowled by Shahid Afridi's delivery.
Mohammad Amir then sent back to set batsman Soumya Sarkar with a superb yorker delivery uprooting the stumps. Soumya top scored run-a-ball 48 runs that studded five boundaries and one over boundary.
Off form Mushfiqur Rahim continued his dismal performance in the tournament as he again dismissed cheaply only for 12 runs while Shakib Al Hasan (8) lasted a little being clean bowled by Mohammad Amir delivery.
Mahmudullah and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza completed the remaining formality to remain unbeaten with 22 and 12 runs respectively.
Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir was the most successful bowler picking up two wickets conceding 26 runs.
Soumya Sarkar of Bangladesh was the player of the match for his impressive 48-run knock.
Earlier, a disciplined bowling display by the Tigers enabled Pakistan to restrict in a moderate total of 129 for 7 in 20 overs, after Pakistan opted to bat first.
The Tigers' bowlers threatened early inroad on Pakistan innings sending back opener Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeeez and Umar Akmal quickly, leaving Pakistan in deep trouble.
Wicket keeper Sarfraz Khan then pairing with Shoaib Malik took the responsibility to stop the rot contributing a useful 70-run partnership for the 5th wicket stand taking the team to a comfortable before Arafat Sunny again struck on Pakistan innings sending back to Shoaib who played a useful 41 runs off 30 balls hitting five boundaries and one sixer before giving an easy catch to Sabbir Rahman.
Sarfraz Khan, who rescued Pakistan from total embarrassment with a responsible unbeaten knock of 58 runs, again shared another 27-run partnership with Anwar Ali (13) for the 7th wicket stand to take the team's total near 130 runs land mark. Sarfraz cracked five boundaries and two over boundaries during his 42-ball stay on the crease.
Al Amin Hossain was the pick of Bangladesh bowler taking three wickets for 25 runs. He was well supported by Arafat Sunny who bagged two wickets giving away 35 runs.
Sports loving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present in the stadium and cheered the Tigers during the play.
Thursday's match: India vs UAE (7.30 pm)
Source: BSS.
“It is highly recommended that no one plagiarizes any content of Sahos24.com without permission from the authority for any sort of business purposes. For non-profit purposes, proper citation or reference should be provided. If any content of ours seems to be copied illegally or seems to be plagiarized, please send your abuse report to [email protected] . We shall take proper step with sincere consideration of your report.” — Editor, Sahos24.com
N. B. – All the comments of the comment section are no how connected to the editorial policy of Sahos24.com. The liability and responsibility regarding the comment are none but of the respective commenter.