Pakistan secured their spot in the Asia Cup 2025 final after prevailing over Bangladesh by 11 runs in a nailbiting low-scoring thriller at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, allowing them to face bitter rivals India for the first time in an Asia Cup final.

Bangladesh, led by stand-in skipper Jaker Ali, chose to bowl first. The Bangladesh bowlers were outstanding, restricting Pakistan to 135/8. Taskin Ahmed finished with 3/28, while leg-spinner Rishad Hossain took a commendable 2/18. Pakistan’s batting struggled, losing wickets regularly. Sahibzada Farhan fell in the first over, and Saim Ayub recorded his fourth duck in six innings. Fakhar Zaman scored 13 before departing, and Hussain Talat was soon out. Mohammad Haris (31 off 23) and Mohammad Nawaz (25 off 15) added some runs, while Shaheen Shah Afridi contributed 19, hitting the first six of the innings before falling to Taskin.

Bangladesh’s chase began poorly as Shaheen Afridi struck in the opening over to remove Parvez Hossain Emon and then dismissed Towhid Hridoy. Saif Hassan counterattacked with 18 off 15 but fell to Haris Rauf, triggering a collapse. Shamim Hossain (30 off 25) tried to stabilize the innings, but wickets continued to fall. Saim Ayub picked up two important wickets, including captain Jaker Ali. Haris Rauf dismissed Tanzim Sakib and Taskin Ahmed in quick succession, while Shaheen Afridi claimed a three-wicket haul. Bangladesh’s lower order fought hard, with Rishad Hossain scoring 16 off 11, but they eventually fell short, finishing on 124/9.

PAK vs BAN: Who Said What?

Shaheen Shah Afridi (Player of the Match):

"I will dedicate this award to my beautiful wife and son who are here. You need early breakthroughs. Those three overs made the difference in the powerplay. I was working on the slower ball. It came out well in the main time. Team decided I will go with Nawaz and Faheem behind me. I got two sixes and that gave us the momentum."

See Also: WATCH: Saim Ayub’s batting woes continue with fourth duck in Asia Cup 2025 PAK vs BAN Super 4 clash

Salman Agha (Pakistan Captain):

"If you win these kind of games, then we must be a special team. Everyone played really well. There is some improvement needed in batting. But we will work on that. Shaheen is a special player. He does what the team needs of him. Very happy for him. We were 15 runs short. The way we bowled up front, we will create pressure. We bowled well with the new ball. More often that not you will games if you bowl like this. We have been fielding well. Shane has been working hard on us. We have been having extra sessions. Mike Hesson said if you cant field, you wont be in the team. We are a good enough team to beat anyone. We will come back on Sunday and try and do that."

Jaker Ali (Bangladesh Captain):

"As a batting unit, last two games we lost it. We did good work with the bowling unit. Yesterday also the batting cost us the game. I tried to take those chances. I tried to adjust to the captaincy. Our bowlers Rishad and then Said with the bat. Unfortunately, we didn't support Saif much."