Before the Asia Cup began, many spoke about how the organisers were milking the marquee India-Pakistan clashes by scheduling three potential matches – group stage, Super Four and final. The two teams were, in fact, favourites to reach the title clash, a reprise of last year’s Champions Trophy final that Pakistan had gone in to win.
But on Wednesday, Bangladesh upended the script as they stunned Pakistan by 37 runs in the last Super Four match and progressed to the final. They were without top players Shakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal but did not give in at any point.
Mushfiqur Rahim struck a valiant 99, while Mohammad Mithun made 60 to lift Bangladesh to a decent 239 all out from a precarious position of 12/3, after opting to bat in the virtual semi-final of the tournament. Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq (83) turned out to be the lone bright spot as they faltered in pursuit of the modest chase, to be restricted to 202/9.
The day belonged to Bangladesh as they never gave up hope and fought tooth and nail to stay one step ahead of Pakistan in the match.
Here’s how the cricket community responded to Bangladesh’s unexpected, but deserving win on Twitter.
What went wrong for Pakistan
Then there is this...
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