Rain made sure to make an appearance during the semi-final between Pakistan and Bangladesh but did not last long enough to force a similar fate onto the game as it did over the quarter-finals. The game had a delayed start by an hour, with the game truncated to 13 overs per side.
Putting Bangladesh to bat first, Pakistan spinners Sufiyan Moqim and Saim Ayub had three batters down in the powerplay, which was reduced to 3.5 overs. The surface had visible cracks, and that only worsened Bangladesh’s predicament, with Pakistan spinners licking their lips. All three batters went back with only single-digit scores next to their names, leaving Bangladesh at 23 for 3 after the powerplay.
Bangladesh middle-order do the remedial work
Saif Hasan and Towhid Hridoy attempted to bring forth the remedial work, and their placid 19-ball, 24-run partnership did well to stop the rot. Even after Hasan went back off a Sufiyan Moqim delivery, Hridoy carried on building the partnership with Mosaddek Hossain. Hridoy had the bulk of the task on him, as he scored 31 off 15 balls of the 53 off 30-ball stand between the two. It was Abrar who had to bear the brunt of Hridoy’s wrath as he conceded 29 runs in two overs.
Pakistan’s bowlers also had a pretty disappointing time being disciplined with their bowling, conceding as many as 15 runs off just extras.
In the 12th over, however, Moqim worked his magic to get both set batters, leaving Bangladesh in a spot of bother late in the innings. Mahedi Hasan’s couple of boundaries helped take Bangladesh’s total to 111.
Bangladesh spinners transpired a start that put them in a decent position, getting both openers, Maaz Sadaqat and Sahibzada Farhan, inside two overs. Only a ball after the powerplay ended, Pakistan lost Saim Ayub as well, who had taken Mustafizur Rahman for 17 runs in the same over, hitting him for two sixes and a four.
Abdul Samad finishes in style
With both new batters, the run-scoring slowed down in the next couple of overs, even though Usman Khan hit a four and a six in each over, before eventually losing his wicket in the seventh. Pakistan were now 53 for 4 with only six overs left. That’s when Hasan Nawaz tonked Nasum Ahmed for two brilliant sixes. And while he did not build on this momentum, it inspired his fellow batter Abdul Samad to pull something daring.
And pull he did as Bangladesh made a mistake of introducing pace once more. It was Mustafizur at the receiving end as Samad hit him for 22 runs in the tenth over. He began his onslaught with a six and followed it up with four consecutive fours.
By then, Pakistan were only 13 runs away from the win, with three overs left. Safe to say these runs came easily enough and Pakistan became the first team to book a place in the Asian Games final.
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