India finished their unbeaten run in the Asia Cup with a strong 8-wicket title winning performance in the final. Bangladesh fought hard in phases, but a victory with six balls to spare and eight wickets in hand is a pretty emphatic one in the end. Indian batsmen Shikher Dhawan and Virat Kohli contributed an invaluable 94-run partnership in the title victory.
After Dhawan got out, MS Dhoni, the Indian ODI and T20 captain, promoted himself up the order and finished the match in grand style. He scored 20 off just 6 balls with 1 four and two huge sixes. Dhoni had played only nine balls in the tournament.
On the other hand, the Pakistan cricket team remained completely listless throughout the tournament barring a few positive performances.
Pakistan suffered morale-shattering defeats against old rivals India and hosts Bangladesh to crash out of the race to qualify for Asia Cup final.
Their performance in the tournament was near catastrophic and ignited calls from all quarters for drastic changes in the Pakistan line-up for the all-important World T20 assignment in India.
Responding to demands, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a Special Committee that will help the Board carry out a post-mortem of the Asia Cup debacle.
The committee includes Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, ex-Test skipper Younis Khan, former Test spinner Iqbal Qasim, Shakil Sheikh (Chairman PCB Cricket Committee) and Subhan Ahmed (PCB’s COO).
Afridi’s role as captain came under scrutiny after Pakistan controversially dropped Wahab Riaz for Anwar Ali in the game against Bangladesh. It was also observed that Afridi went missing from training sessions and skipped meetings with the coaching staff.
Pakistan’s defeat against lowly-ranked Bangladesh could be termed as the biggest shock of the event. The host side outplayed Pakistan by five wickets and confirmed a berth in the title clash.
Pakistan recovered from 28-4 to post 129-7, before Bangladesh reached a winning total of 131-5 in 19.1 overs. Mahmudullah secured victory with a deep mid-wicket boundary.
Mahmudullah was unbeaten on 22, but Soumya Sarkar (48) provided the platform for the victory.
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir had figures 2-26 and kept his side's hopes alive until Mashrafe Mortaza (12 not out) hit him for two consecutive boundaries in the 18th over.
With 18 runs needed in the last two overs, fast bowler Mohammad Sami conceded two no-balls, one of which Mahmudullah cut past the point to hit the boundary. It left Bangladesh needing just three runs to win in the last over.
Mahmudullah, who was at the crease during Bangladesh's two-run defeat by Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup final, then hit a boundary to the wild delight of the home cricket enthusiasts.
However, Sarkar's run-a-ball 48 against a high-quality Pakistan attack, despite losing Tamim Iqbal for seven and in-form Sabbir Rahman for 14, was the key to Bangladesh's success.
Earlier, Sarfraz Ahmed led Pakistan's recovery with an unbeaten 58. He and Shoaib Malik, who scored 41, combined in a 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Electing to bat first, Pakistan was 28-4 after 10 overs, before the duo counterattacked to give the bowlers a decent total to defend.
Bangladesh fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain claimed 3-25 and caused the early damage for Pakistan, helped by his new-ball partner Taskin Ahmed, 1-14. Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny finished with 2-35.
Against the UAE, though, Pakistan managed to win the match, but their victory can’t be called a comfortable one. Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal each scored a half-century as Pakistan survived early innings jitters to beat the United Arab Emirates by seven wickets in the Asia Cup in Dhaka.
Set a modest target after their bowlers had restricted the UAE to 129-6, Pakistan lost three wickets in 17 runs before Malik and Akmal saw them home with solid batting.
Malik made 63 off 49 balls while Akmal added 50 off 46 balls as the pair added 114 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket partnership to steer Pakistan to 131-3 with eight balls to spare. UAE captain Amjad Javed took all three Pakistan wickets as he trapped Sharjeel Khan leg-before for four before inducing an edge from Khurram Manzoor's bat for a duck in his first over.
Pakistan were in danger when Mohammad Hafeez gave a catch to Fahad Tariq at cover for 11 in Javed's next over but Malik and Akmal staved off a further collapse with some cautious batting mixed with calculated aggression.
Shaiman Anwar made 46 off 42 balls for the UAE after the minnows suffered a similar collapse at the start of their innings. Pakistan's pace bowling trio of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan each claimed a wicket apiece in their respective first spell to leave the UAE struggling with 12-3.
Pakistan's batting finally came good as they successfully chased down a competitive total against Sri Lanka to win by six wickets in an inconsequential final round robin league encounter of the Asia Cup Twenty20.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted a decent 150 for four, riding on a century opening stand between TM Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal.
In reply, Pakistan produced a collective batting performance to win the match in 19.2 overs. Umar Akmal (48 off 37 balls) and veteran Shoaib Malik (13 not out) added 56 runs in 6.1 overs to take Pakistan home.
Akmal's innings had four boundaries and two huge sixes.
Left-hander Sharjeel Khan hit five boundaries and a six, in his 31 off 25 balls as he added 35 quick runs for the second wicket with Sarfraz Ahmed (38).
Sarfraz was the only Pakistan batsman who played consistent cricket in the tournament. After 25 against India and 58 against Bangladesh, Sarfraz's 37 came off 28 balls with six boundaries as he set up the game nicely for Akmal and Malik to provide finishing touches.
Akmal hit a brilliant six to level scores but was dismissed to an outstanding catch by Thisara Perera. It was left to Malik to hit the winning runs but was lucky as the mid-off fielder dropped a dolly.
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