Bangladesh stunned Pakistan in the bronze medal match of the 2023 Asian Games in a thrilling finish today (October 7) at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field in Hangzhou.
Today (October 7), Pakistan and Bangladesh faced off in the bronze medal third-place match of the 2023 Asian Games. Due to rain, the match was shortened to a 5-1 shootout, with a thrilling result in which Bangladesh emerged victorious and took home the bronze medal.
Pakistan took the lead and scored 48-1 in 5 overs. Mirza Baig remained unbeaten in 32 of 18 matches, but his opening partner Khushdir Shah struggled with 14 balls from 10. Bangladesh’s Rakibul Hasan bowled his two overs economical for just 12 runs, picking the only Pakistan wick to fall, that of Khushdil.
Bangladesh has been given a revised DLS target of 65. With 13 runs required per over, things were far from easy. They needed to get off to a good start, but it turned out to be just the opposite.
Zakir Hasan and Saif Hasan were dismissed for ducks within the first three balls of the innings, making the score 1-2. Then Afif Hossain and Yasir Ali, who had experience at the international level, turned the tide in Bangladesh’s favor.
The second over was bowled by Arafat Minhas who scored a whopping 29 runs. Bangladesh were 40-2 after three overs and needed another 25 in two overs to win the bronze medal. However, three of the first four balls of Arshad Iqbal’s four overs were dot balls, making the equation 8-24.
Afif hit a boundary with the fifth ball but was dismissed in the last minute and Bangladesh ran away with a 20-run lead in the final over.
Yasir Ali raised Bangladesh’s hopes once again with two sixes in the first three balls of Sufiyan Mukeem’s final over. He was then dismissed for 34 off 16 on the fifth ball, leaving the team with four balls to go until the final ball of the game.
Rakibul, Bangladesh’s star with the ball, came on at number six and displayed nerves of steel to reach the boundary and win the bronze medal for his team in thrilling fashion.
As of this writing, this is only the second medal for Bangladesh in the 2023 Asian Games.
The gold medal match between India and Afghanistan is scheduled to be played at the same venue today (October 7) from 2pm local time.
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