Bangladesh crashed out of the Asia Cup 2025 after an 11-run defeat to Pakistan in their do-or-die Super Four clash, following a batting failure at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Chasing a modest 136, the batters were baffled once again and were restricted to 124-9, undone by brilliant bowling by Pakistan鈥檚 pace duo of Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-17) and Haris Rauf (3-33), who shared six wickets between them to set up a final against arch-rivals India on Sunday.
Bangladesh appeared to be in control when their bowlers limited Pakistan to 135- 8 in 20 overs after stand-in captain Jaker Ali opted to bowl first.
Seamer Taskin Ahmed, recalled after missing the clash against India, struck with 3-28, while spinners Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain took two wickets each.
Taskin removed Sahibzada Farhan for four in just the fourth ball of the innings, before Mahedi sent back Saim Ayub for a duck to leave Pakistan struggling at 5-2.聽
Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain dismissed Fakhar Zaman for 13, while Mustafizur Rahman returned skipper Salman Agha (19) to tighten the screws.
However, a late 38-run stand for the seventh wicket between Mohammad Haris (31) and Mohammad Nawaz (25) lifted Pakistan beyond 130.
But despite Tiger鈥檚 disciplined effort with the ball, they faltered badly with the bat.聽
Opener Parvez Hossain Emon was first to make his way after getting removed by Afridi for a duck in just the second ball of their innings.聽
Afridi soon struck again to dismiss Towhid Hridoy for five, reducing Bangladesh to 23-2 in the fifth over.
Pakistan spinners kept the pressure on in the middle overs. Shamim Hossain top-scored for Bangladesh with a fighting 30, but Shaheen returned in his second spell to dismiss him and snuff out all hopes.
Mahedi (11), Nurul Hasan Sohan (16) and captain Jaker fell early despite making a good start, which drew criticism from the fans and pundits.
Haris then cleaned the lower order, striking twice in three balls to put the game beyond Bangladesh鈥檚 reach. Rishad鈥檚 unbeaten 16 only narrowed the margin of defeat.
The result ended Bangladesh鈥檚 campaign, which started with hopes of the final, as they beat Afghanistan in the group stage to secure their spot in the Super-4 and then defeated Sri Lanka in their Super-4 to boost their chances of reaching the final for the fourth occasion.
Jaker stated, 鈥楢s a batting unit, for the last two matches, we lost it. As a bowling unit, we did very good work. Also, the batting [cost us the match against India] and today as well.鈥�
The wicketkeeper-batter admitted that leading the team in the absence of the injured Liton Das was a bit challenging.
聽鈥業 made an effort to seize those opportunities. I aimed to adapt to the captaincy and make the most of it.鈥�
Head coach, Phil Simmons said that the absence of regular captain Liton hurt their chances.
鈥楲osing the captain in such good form is a big thing for us. When someone of his class is suddenly unavailable, the situation gets tough,鈥� said Simmons
Despite scoring only 18 runs from 15 balls, Saif Hassan was the key performer for Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, scoring 178 runs across four innings鈥攖he most for his team鈥攚hich featured two half-centuries, and Mustafiz finished with nine wickets.