Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Asia Cup 2025: PAK win to set up India vs Pakistan final

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 win 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 can't field, you won't be in the team. We are a good enough team to beat anyone. We will come back on Sunday and try and do that.

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.

Now this is falling apart for Bangladesh. First, it was Shamim trying to scoop the ball against Shaheen and ended up giving a straight catch to fine-leg, and then Haris Rauf came into the attack and injured himself after taking the treatment. He slipped in a slower one to get rid of Tanzim, and as we update, Rauf picks up Taskin Ahmed. It is quicker this time. Bangladesh is nine down, what a comeback it has been from Pakistan in this game. They were done and dusted by all means in the first half, but they have delivered an inspiring bowling performance.

Well, Saim Ayub has picked up Jaker Ali here. It was the action replay of Nurul Hassan earlier; it was a carrom ball, and Jaker Ali tried to clear the ropes and was holed out at long-off. This is turning out to be a poor chase from Bangladesh. When they won against Sri Lanka, there was quite a bit of method in the way they approached that chase yesterday, and today there has been no rhythm to the chase nor any efforts to build partnerships. Having said that, they are still in the game because of their exceptional bowling performance in the first innings.

The game is right in the balance here. Although Pakistan has picked up four wickets here, the advantage Bangladesh has here is that they know what they are chasing, unlike Pakistan, which had a target to set, which always forces them to take that extra risk. Shamim and Nurul here need to lay a foundation for the next 4-5 overs. Scoring at six would do, but losing a wicket will be quite detrimental to their winning this game. They also need to assess the bowlers they want to attack and whom they want to respect.

There we go, since our last update, Bangladesh has lost two more wickets. First, it was Towid Hridoy who tried to play one through the leg-side, and the leading edge went to third man, and then it was Saif who went in a similar manner, but the catch only carried till the point fielder. Bangladesh has lost three wickets here in the power play, and they are in a lot of trouble. Both the Pakistan strike bowlers have picked wickets and have their tail up. Bangladesh needs a partnership here.

Well, Bangladesh had one box to tick in these initial overs, and they failed to do it. It was a short ball from Afridi which Emon tried to play a shot on the leg-side and got the top-edge, and the fine-leg fielder took a simple catch. Towhid Hridoy is the new batter in, and with the ball still moving around, it is going to be a bit of a challenge for the batter. Pakistan needs one more wicket in the powerplay, and we will have a humdinger of a game on our hands.

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali(w/c), Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman

Pakistan (Playing XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

Bangladesh has done an exceptional job in the first innings here. Mohammad Nawaz is the latest one to fall, and Pakistan has somehow scraped their way to 124 here. So they must be getting to 130 from here on, which will give some hope for Pakistan. But Shaheen has to strike very early with the ball.

Pakistan has four overs remaining, and they are on 94. Run a ball from here, it will take them around 120 runs. With Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Haris, who are quite capable batters in the middle, Pakistan will try to push to that 140, which will give them some sort of fighting chance in the 2nd innings. To all fairness, it should not be enough, but with Shaheen getting into some form in the previous game, they will be hoping to get a few early wickets, and that's how to put pressure on Pakistan.

Well, there have been a few dropped catches here from Bangladesh, which should have been taken quite easily. Shaheen Afridi has been promoted up the order for Pakistan, which is quite a strange move. While Afridi can bat, not sending Mohammad Nawaz questions his role in the side. He has not even bowled in the last couple of games. While Pakistan's batting has been quite vulnerable, they have constantly chopped and changed the order. They are under serious threat of getting bowled out under 100 here.

Rishad Hossain has picked up the wicket of Talat here. It was a short wide one, and it could have been put away for a boundary, but it has been one of those days for Pakistan where Talat found the point fielder. Rishad has been quite pivotal in Bangladesh's bowling success yesterday, and so far, he has been quite pivotal today. Pakistan is in deep trouble, although their bowling has come into some sort of form in the previous game, if they don't put runs on the board today, that bowling will find it hard to be as penetrative as they were against Sri Lanka.

Fakhar and Salman Agha are the experienced lot in this lineup, and neither has had many contributions in this tournament. While Fakhar did blitz with a half-century in the tournament, Salman Agha has, time and again in this series, looked out of sorts. This is an opportunity in the knockout game for both to deliver. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has bowled quite superbly in the phase they have struggled in the last two games in this stage. From this situation, they would be hoping to restrict Pakistan to around 130-mark.

Taskin Ahmed has started here for Bangladesh. He is a wicket-taker, the Bangladesh new ball bowler, and there were a few eyebrows raised when he did not play yesterday. As we update, Taskin has picked up Farhan. It was a short wide one, and the batter tried to cut the ball and ended up giving a straight catch to Rishad Hossain at point. Saim Ayub has walked into the middle. Pakistan has managed to win games in recent times, but they just have not been able to put on a good start upfront with the bat.

Looks like a good covering of grass. It did take some turn. Swing bowlers and seam bowlers got some movement. There would be some movement thanks to the humidity. There is something in the air. Don't lose too many in the powerplay. There might be some turn later.

Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

We would like to bowl first, looks a pretty dry wicket. We have been doing well while bowling first, so we are going with that strategy. As a bowling unit we have been doing well. We have to bat really well in this match. We just want to play for the championship, that's the mindset. We have three changes. Saifuddin, Nasum and Tamim are not playing. Taskin comes in, and Sheikh Mahedi comes in.

“We are very confident and the atmosphere in the camp (is good) given that we have been playing non-stop cricket for such a long time and the kind of options we have.

“And, the good thing is that the players are being backed (by the management), unlike previous days when they were replaced if they were not performing. Now, only two matches are left. If we play two matches well, the trophy will be ours,” he said

Before the Asia Cup, we played a couple of series and we batted really well and we chased down comfortably. We all know how dangerous Mustafizur is. It looked like a pretty good wicket to bat on. Mustafizur's 19th over and Taskin's 20th over, they changed the game. It looked like 190 but they kept it down. Taskin bowled a really good (final) over. I know Saif can win games for Bangladesh. We all knew he's going to be a good player in UAE. I know his character and I know how he scores runs. Whenever you chase down like this, you are pumped up for the next game but we have to come again - new day, new team and we have to play our A game.

It's quite surprising, but I take the preparation. All the credit goes to the boys, after ten overs they adjusted brilliantly. We can take lots of things from this game, we have another game tomorrow. We have to keep in mind that we can win tomorrow and play the final. Let's see what kind of combination we are going to go but we will give our best.

“I’ve not seen the wicket change much in 40 overs. It’s one of the finest wickets in the world to bat on. India-Pakistan was proof of the good track. Bowlers will need to bowl well or it helps batsmen fully. I don’t think toss will make much of a difference.”

“According to me, if two teams have to play 15-20 matches, and if there’s a 7-all or someone is ahead 8-7, then it’s called playing good cricket and it’s called rivalry. 13-0, 10-1, I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore.”

"We will wait till the last minute for Litton."

Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat/Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmad

Hello and welcome to our live blog of Pakistan taking on Bangladesh. It is a knockout game for both sides ahead of facing India in the final. To be fair, although one would consider Pakistan slightly favourites because of the history they bring, in this tournament, the performances from both sides have been quite similar. Hence, it is going to be a cracking contest do stay with us to enjoy all the live action.