Pakistan Women have lost the Asian Games semi-final against Sri Lanka after Chamari Athapaththu’s brilliant all-round show. This was the second time Sri Lanka downed Pakistan in a semi-final in a month, having already swept past them in the Asia Cup semi-final last week. While Sri Lanka will take on India in the final, Pakistan’s journey in the tournament has not yet come to an end.
As per the format of the tournament, Pakistan and Bangladesh will face each other in the third-place playoff, hours before the final between India and Sri Lanka. Interestingly, this is the same scenario as in the previous Asian Games edition, when similarly Sri Lanka and India defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh to make it to the final. The third-place match between Bangladesh and Pakistan ended up with the former winning in a low-scoring thriller.
How have Pakistan recently fared against Bangladesh?
The two teams have a significantly mismatched match-up, with Pakistan having won 16 out of 21 games played between them. However, Bangladesh’s five wins have come more recently. They have turned up better than Pakistan in the last four of their five encounters. The latest of these wins came during the Women’s T20 World Cup game earlier this year when Bangladesh won the game by 23 runs.
Bangladesh’s defeat against India in the semi-final was more chastening than what Pakistan had to endure from Sri Lanka. Scoring 195 runs after batting first, India only let Bangladesh creep to 81 in 16 overs. Only three of their batters got into double figures, while three were sent packing for ducks.
Bangladesh Women squad for third-place playoff
Nigar Sultana † (c), Nahida Akter (vc), Dilara Akter †, Fahima Khatun, Fariha Trisna, Juairiya Ferdous †, Marufa Akter, Sobhana Mostary, Rabeya Khan, Ritu Moni, Sanjida Akter Meghla, Sarmin Sultana, Sharmin Akhter, Shorna Akter, Sultana Khatun.
Pakistan Women squad for third-place playoff
Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Eman Naseer, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Humna Bilal, Momina Riasat, Nashra Sandhu, Saira Jabeen, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani.
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