Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf starred with both ball and bat as Pakistan clinched a thrilling 11-run victory over Bangladesh in the ACC T20 Asia Cup Super-Four clash at Dubai International Stadium on Thursday night, securing a spot in the final against India.
Defending a modest total of 135, Pakistan’s pace duo combined for impressive figures of 6 for 50 in eight overs, marking their second-lowest successful T20I defense against Bangladesh.
Shaheen set the tone early, dismissing Parvez Hossain Emon for a duck—his 22nd first-over wicket in T20Is—and then removing Towhid Hridoy (5), leaving Bangladesh at 23-2 in 4.2 overs. Haris Rauf followed up by removing Saif Hassan (18) on the first ball of the sixth over, with Bangladesh ending the powerplay at 36-3.
Mohammad Nawaz chipped in by dismissing Mahedi Hasan (11) in the eighth over, reducing Bangladesh to 44-4. A brief resistance came from Nurul Hasan (16) and Shamim Hossain (30), who added 19 runs before Nurul fell to Saim Ayub. Saim continued his fine form, removing captain Jaker Ali (5) in the 14th over.
Shaheen returned to end Shamim’s gritty knock in the 17th over, and Haris struck twice in the 18th, leaving Bangladesh at 101-9. Haris then held his nerve in the final over, defending 23 runs to seal the win. Saim Ayub finished with figures of 2 for 16 from four overs, taking his tournament tally to eight wickets.
Earlier, Pakistan’s innings got off to a rocky start, losing both openers within the first 10 balls for just five runs. Fakhar Zaman (13) and Salman Ali Agha steadied briefly, taking the score to 27-2 by the end of the powerplay. However, wickets continued to tumble, with Pakistan at 49-5 in 10.5 overs.
Shaheen Afridi contributed a vital cameo of 19 off 13 balls, including two sixes, before falling to Taskin Ahmed. Mohammad Haris (31) and Nawaz (25) stitched together a crucial 38-run stand for the seventh wicket, pushing Pakistan past the 100-run mark.
Despite late blows from Mahedi and Taskin, Faheem Ashraf’s final-over contributions helped Pakistan reach 135-8. Taskin ended with 3 for 28, while Mahedi and Rishad each claimed two wickets.