Tigers shatter Pakistan dream to make it to fi

DHAKA: Pakistan failed to qualify for the Asia Cup final as Bangladesh trounced them in an exciting Twenty20 International here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Wednesday night.Chasing a modest total of 130, they batted bravely to complete a deserving five-wicket victory with five balls to spare.Opener Soumya Sarmar top-scored with 48 from as many balls while Mahmudullah, who hit the winning boundary off the first ball of the final over, scored an unbeaten 22 and captain Mashrafe Mortaza remained not out on 12 .However, their experienced batsmen, Shakib Al Hasan (8), Mushfiqur Rahim (12), Tamim Iqbal (7) and Sabbir Rehman (14) could not make any significant contribution.For Pakistan, Mohammad Amer claimed two wickets for 26 while Mohammad Irfan, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik took one wicket each.Earlier, Sarfraz Ahmed along with Shoaib Malik added 70 runs for the fifth wicket after Pakistan made a disastrous start, losing four wickets for just 28 runs in a match which was a do-or-die battle for them.However, they made a reasonable total of 129 for seven wickets as Sarfraz hammered an unbeaten 58 from 42 balls with two sixes and five fours while Shoaib made 41from 30 balls with a six and five fours.For Bangladesh, Al-Amin Hossain captured three wickets for 25 and Arafat Sunny claimed two for 35 while Taskin Ahmed and Mortaza took one wicket each.This was Pakistan’s lowest total in eight T20 Internationals played earlier against Bangladesh. The previous lowest was 135-7 at Dhaka in 2011.””’