Lahore (Sports Desk): Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 6 wickets in the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games to reach the final for the first time.
Due to rain, the semi-final was reduced to 13 overs per innings. Pakistan won the toss and invited Bangladesh to bat first.
Bangladesh scored 111 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 13 overs. Towhid Hridoy was his team’s top scorer with 42 runs.
For Pakistan, Sufiyan Muqeem took 3 wickets, while Arafat Minhas claimed 2 wickets and Saim Ayub took one wicket.
Chasing a target of 112 runs, Pakistan did not have a good start, losing 4 wickets by the time they reached 53 runs. Saim Ayub scored 21, Muaz Sadaqat made 15, Usman Khan scored 14, while captain Sahibzada Farhan scored one run.
At this stage, Abdus Samad and Hassan Nawaz batted responsibly and built an unbeaten 59-run partnership. Abdus Samad scored 30, while Hassan Nawaz made 27, and Pakistan reached the target in 11.3 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.
Pakistan thus secured a 6-wicket victory and reached the final of the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games for the first time.