Asia Cup: Pakistan Set Up India Final With 10-Run Win Over Bangladesh Khaleej Times

After all the drama and controversies that unfolded on and off the field, the Asia Cup is all set to get its first India-Pakistan final in its 41-year-old history.

With a hard-fought 11-run win over Bangladesh on Thursday, Pakistan set up a mouthwatering final against India.

It was a victory achieved on the back of their impressive bowling attack in the penultimate Super Four game after their batting unit struggled for rhythm once again, limping to 135 for eight.

In what was a virtual semifinal at Dubai International Stadium, Bangladesh had a chance of reaching Sunday's final.

But their batters couldn't cope with the pressure as the Shaheen Shah Afridi-inspired Pakistan bowling attack put relentless pressure with their nagging line and wicket-taking deliveries, restricting Bangladesh to 124 for nine.

This will be the first Pakistan-India final of the Asia Cup, a tournament that started at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium in 1984.

But at one stage on Thursday, a place in the final looked out of Pakistan's reach as they were in danger of falling to an embarrassing defeat after Bangladesh bowlers restricted them to 71 for six in the 14th over.

Mohammad Haris (31 off 23 balls) and Mohammad Nawaz (25 off 15 balls), though, refused to throw in the towel as they fought back to give their bowlers something to bowl at.

Left-arm pacer Afridi (4-0-17-3) then put Bangladesh under incredible pressure with a superb opening spell of three overs in which he dismissed opener Parvez Hossain Emon (0) and number three Towhid Hridoy (5).

Bangladesh never recovered from the early blows as pacer Haris Rauf (3/33) and spinners Saim Ayub (2/16) and Nawaz (1/14) also played their part beautifully to drag Pakistan over the line.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 135 for 8 (Haris 31, Nawaz 25, Taskin 3-28, Rishad 2-18) beat Bangladesh 124 for 9 (Shamim 30, Afridi 3-17, Rauf 3-33, Ayub 2-16) by 11 runs.

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