Pakistan has qualified for the Asia Cup 2025 final after defeating Bangladesh by 11 runs in a low-scoring thriller at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. With this victory, Pakistan has secured a historic showdown against India, marking the first time the two archrivals have met in an Asia Cup final.
Bangladesh, led by stand-in skipper Jaker Ali, decided to bowl first. Their bowlers had an outstanding effort on the most important day, reducing Pakistan to 135 for eight. Taskin Ahmed finished with 3 for 28, and leg-spinner Rishad Hossain impressed with 2 for 18. Pakistan’s batting never truly clicked, as they lost wickets on a frequent basis.
Sahibzada Farhan fell in the first over, while Saim Ayub’s terrible tournament continued with his fourth duck in six innings. Fakhar Zaman contributed 13 before losing his wicket, and Hussain Talat followed soon after. The middle order battled against spin, and skipper Salman Agha also left early.
Cameos from Mohammad Haris (31 off 23) and Mohammad Nawaz (25 off 15) took Pakistan towards a defendable total. Shaheen Shah Afridi chipped in with a 19, hitting the first six of the innings before falling to Taskin.
Bangladesh’s chase got off to a poor start as Shaheen Afridi struck in the opening over to dismiss Parvez Hossain Emon, before removing Towhid Hridoy soon after. Saif Hassan tried to counterattack with 18 off 15, but his dismissal to Haris Rauf triggered a collapse.
Shamim Hossain (30 off 25) tried to stabalize the sinking ship, but Pakistan’s bowlers consistently picked wickets. Saim Ayub, after a failure with the bat, redeemed himself with the ball, picking up two wickets, including the Bangladesh captain Jaker Ali. Haris Rauf removed Tanzim Sakib and Taskin in quick succession, while Shaheen bagged a three-wicket haul. Bangladesh’s lower order fought until the end, with Rishad Hossain’s 16 off 11 offering some hope. They eventually finished on 124 for 9, 11 runs short of the target.
Who Said What?
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Player of the Match
I will dedicate this award to my beautiful wife and son who are here. You need early breakthroughs. Those three overs made the difference in the powerplay. I was working on the slower ball. It came out well in the main time. Team decided I will go with Nawaz and Faheem behind me. I got two sixes and that gave us the momentum.
Salman Agha, Pakistan (Winning Captain)
If you win these kind of games, then we must be a special team. Everyone played really well. There is some improvement needed in batting. But we will work on that. Shaheen is a special player. He does what the team needs of him. Very happy for him. We were 15 runs short. The way we bowled up front, we will create pressure. We bowled well with the new ball.
More often that not you will games if you bowl like this. We have been fielding well. Shane has been working hard on us. We have been having extra sessions. Mike Hesson said if you cant field, you wont be in the team. We are a good enough team to beat anyone. We will come back on Sunday and try and do that.
Jaker Ali, Bangladesh (Losing Captain)
As a batting unit, last two games we lost it. We did good work with the bowling unit. Yesterday also the batting cost us the game. I tried to take those chances. I tried to adjust to the captaincy. Our bowlers Rishad and then Said with the bat. Unfortunately, we didn’t support Saif much.
India
