Afridi, Rauf fire Pakistan past Bangladesh for mouthwatering India final in Asia Cup

Despite what the scoreboard suggests, Bangladesh batters never looked up to the task in their modest chase

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf delivered lethal spells to fire Pakistan into the Asia Cup final against arch-rivals India, condemning Bangladesh to a limp exit after an 11-run defeat.

Chasing a modest 136 on a sluggish track in Dubai on Thursday, the Tigers never looked in command, losing wickets at regular intervals and failing to mount a meaningful chase.

Shamim Hossain’s 30 off 25 was the lone resistance in an innings otherwise littered with poor shot selection and soft dismissals.

Afridi (3-17) and Rauf (3-33) combined to keep Bangladesh under pressure throughout, forcing the batters to play catch-up until the very end.

Bangladesh’s experiment with a reshuffled top order fell flat as Parvez Hossain Emon lasted only four deliveries, feathering Afridi to square leg for a duck.

Towhid Hridoy (5) followed soon after, edging another Afridi outswinger.

Saif Hassan, who had scored successive fifties against Sri Lanka and India, looked promising on 18 but misjudged a Rauf lifter and perished.

Shamim briefly steadied the innings with busy strokeplay, but once he succumbed to Afridi’s clever change of pace, the lower order folded quickly.

With 18 needed off the final three balls, Rishad Hossain (16*) gave the Tigers faint hope by smashing the first delivery for six, but he failed to connect the last two.

Earlier, Bangladesh had fought gamely with the ball to restrict Pakistan.

Mahedi Hasan (3-28) and Taskin Ahmed (2-28) struck early blows as Pakistan stumbled to 33 for 3.

Leg-spinner Rishad Ahmed (2-18) then added two wickets in quick succession to leave the innings in tatters at 49 for 5.

But Afridi counterattacked with a rapid 19 off 13 balls, including two sixes, to jolt Pakistan out of trouble.

Mohammad Haris (31), Mohammad Nawaz (25) and Faheem Ashraf (14*) stitched together valuable runs to lift Pakistan to 135 for 9 — a total that, thanks to their bowlers, proved just enough.

For Pakistan, the reward is huge: a dream final against India. For Bangladesh, another campaign ends with promise shown in patches, but undone by brittle batting when it mattered most.