Bangladesh booked their spot in the Asia Cup final after defeating Pakistan in a thriller at Mirpur on Wednesday. Chasing Pakistan's 129/7, they stumbled early but got home after captain Mashrafe Mortaza struck some lusty blows at the death. Bangladesh will meet India in the final on Saturday.
Pakistan, who won the toss and decided to bat, were all at sea against Bangladesh's opening bowlers, crawling to 28/4 in 8.2 overs. Wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik rescued them with knocks of 58 and 41 respectively as they managed to post a competitive 129/7 on the board. Bangladesh's Al-Amin Hossain stood out with figures of 3/35 in his four overs.
Despite the loss of Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh got off to a good start and looked on course for an easy win. However Mohammad Amir took out Soumya Sarkar for a run-a-ball 48. Shoaib Malik dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim the next over and all of a sudden, Bangladesh had slipped to 88/5 with the required run rate rising.
Amir then came back to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan and Pakistan were in with a real chance. However, captain Mashrafe Mortaza smashed two boundaries off Amir to keep his team in the hunt. In the next over, Pakistan's Mohammad Sami bowled two no balls and Bangladesh got over the line in 19.1 overs with five wickets intact.
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