Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a Super Four match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to advance to the Asia Cup final in 2025. The team led by Salman Ali Agha will now face their archrivals, India, in the competition final on September 28.
In the virtual semi-final, Pakistan scored 135/8 in 20 overs, with Mohammad Haris top-scoring with 31. Taskin Ahmed took 3/28, with Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain taking two wickets each. Despite Shamim Hossain's 30, Bangladesh only achieved 124/9 in 20 overs, losing by 11 runs. Shaheen Afridi took 3/17, while Haris Rauf took 3/33.
Pakistan bowlers and fielders put Bangladesh batting under severe pressure as the Tigers went for high-risk shots instead of going for normal shots in the chase. But there were moments where the vintage Pakistani fielding reared its head, and one such instance stood out.
In the fifth over of Bangladesh’s chase, Towhid Hridoy tapped a soft ball from Shaheen Afridi to Saim Ayub at point, prompting the non-striker, Saif Hassan, to go for a fast single. However, Hridoy remained in his crease, resulting in a massive mix-up.
Both batters ended up on the same end of the crease. Meanwhile, Saim Ayub threw the ball towards the non-striker's end, with no one behind the stumps. The ball sailed past the intended aim and ended up near the backup fielder. Hassan had already recovered his position by the time the ball was taken up.
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan was on commentary and didn’t hold back as the incident unfolded.
While commentating during the incident, Pathan said, “dono ballebaz ek hi end pe. Kya ho sakti hain run-out?! Miss Kar gayi. Aisi galti umeed karte hain aap Pakistan se. Dono hi batsman ek hi end pe hone ke bawajood run-out na ho, yeh darshata hain ki Pakistan fielding kar rahi hain.” (Both the batters at the same end. Could this be a run-out?! They missed it. You expect these kinds of mistakes from Pakistan. With both the batters at one end when there is a missed run-out chance, it shows that Pakistan is fielding.
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