Saif Hassan continued his superb form in the ongoing Asia Cup despite Bangladesh losing to India by 41 runs in their second Super Four match at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.听
Saif fought a lone battle by making 69 off 51 balls, while the other 10 batters managed only 49 runs, including Parvez Hossain鈥檚 21 off 19, as Bangladesh stumbled to 127 in 19.3 overs in pursuit of 168 runs.听
Wednesday鈥檚 defeat set Bangladesh鈥檚 last match against Pakistan on Thursday as a shootout for the final.听
Bangladesh and Pakistan both had two points, while India ensured their berth in the final, having got four points from their first two matches.听
Despite losing the match, Bangladesh鈥檚 stand-in captain Jaker Ali praised the opener鈥檚 effort.听
鈥楽aif Hassan is doing really well,鈥� he said. 鈥楾he way he has batted after coming back, the confidence he has shown鈥攊t鈥檚 been really good for the whole team.鈥�
Jaker also hoped that Saif would continue to inspire the team in the coming days.听
He said, 鈥業t inspires others as well. Hopefully, he鈥檒l continue this in the next match too.鈥�
After choosing to bowl first, Bangladesh bowlers made a great comeback after giving away 112 runs in the first 11 overs.听
After the loss of Tanzid Hasan, Saif and Parvez steadied the ship a bit before the latter fell for 21.听
However, the other batters failed to provide any support for Saif, resulting in a scenario that felt more like an India versus Saif contest at one point.
Captain Liton Das was sidelined due to a side strain, while Bangladesh also made substitutions, as Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Mahedi Hasan were rested.
After making a quiet start to his innings to score 24 runs off 24 balls, Saif decided to take on India鈥檚 left-arm spinner Axar Patel.听
Saif, who returned to the international side after a long layoff just before the Asia Cup, hit three fours and five sixes.听
Saif earlier said that he worked for a long time to develop his range hitting, especially against the spinners.听
It seemed those started to pay off, as four of his five sixes on Wednesday came against Axar, while the other one came off another spinner, Varun Chakravarthy.听
After playing a match-winning knock of 61 off 45 against Sri Lanka in Bnagladesh鈥檚 Super Four first game, Saif gave some headaches to the Indian side, who eventually remained unbeaten.听
However, India鈥檚 slippery hands on the field helped Saif as he got as many as four reprieves.听
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