Pakistan beat Bangladesh by six wickets to reach the Asian Games gold-medal match

Pakistan recovered from 53 for 4 to beat Bangladesh by six wickets and reach the Asian Games gold-medal match

Pakistan are into the final of the men's cricket competition at the Asian Games after chasing 112 in 11.3 overs at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Thursday, a win built on an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 59 from 32 balls between Abdul Samad and Hasan Nawaz.

A wet outfield had cut the first semi-final to 13 overs a side, and Bangladesh, asked to bat after Sahibzada Farhan won the toss and chose to field, managed 111 for 7.

Pakistan were four down and barely halfway to the target when Samad took 23 runs from a single Mustafizur Rahman over and turned a tight chase into a comfortable one.

A wet outfield sets the terms

The reduction to 13 overs an innings left neither side room to build an innings in the usual way, and the semi-final became a contest of who could survive a bad start.

Farhan had no hesitation at the toss. Pakistan's decision to bowl first looked sound within three overs and stayed that way for most of the afternoon.

Both semi-finals of the T20 competition were scheduled at the same ground on the same day, with the medal matches to follow.

Hridoy holds the Bangladesh innings together

Bangladesh lost three wickets for 31 inside the first 3.2 overs, Tanzid Hasan going for 7, captain Litton Das for 2 and Parvez Hossain Emon for 1.

Saif Hassan made 19 before he too departed, leaving Bangladesh 45 for 4 with the innings almost half gone.

Towhid Hridoy then produced the innings that gave Bangladesh something to defend, striking 42 from 25 balls with four sixes and two fours.

Mosaddek Hossain held the other end for 11 from 16 balls in a stand of 53, and Bangladesh closed on 111 for 7.

Moqim and Minhas squeeze the middle

Left-arm wrist spinner Sufyan Moqim was the pick of the Pakistan attack with 3-26 from his three overs.

Arafat Minhas took 2-23, also from three overs, and Saim Ayub conceded just three runs in his two overs for a wicket.

In a 13-over innings there is little time to recover from spells of that kind, and outside Hridoy's burst Bangladesh never got away.

Samad turns the chase in one over

Pakistan's start was worse than Bangladesh's. Farhan fell to the first ball he faced, and Maaz Sadaqat went for 15.

Saim Ayub made 21 and Usman Khan 14, and at 53 for 4 a target of 112 was still a long way off with the asking rate climbing.

The 10th over decided it. Samad hit 23 runs off Mustafizur Rahman, and what was left of the equation disappeared in six balls.

Abdul Samad finished on 30 not out from 15 balls with five fours and a six, and Hasan Nawaz on 27 not out from 22 with two fours and two sixes.

Rishad Hossain and Mahedi Hasan took a wicket each for Bangladesh, but no bowler found a way back once the fifth-wicket pair were set.

A gold-medal match on Saturday

Pakistan now wait on the winner of the second semi-final, between India and Sri Lanka, played at the same ground later on Thursday.

The gold-medal match is scheduled for Saturday, 3 October, with the bronze-medal match earlier the same day.

Bangladesh, beaten here, drop into that bronze-medal match and will play the losing side from the second semi-final.

Pakistan come out of the semi-final with a clear day before the final and nine balls to spare in the bank.

Scorecard: Bangladesh 111 for 7 in 13 overs (Towhid Hridoy 42; Sufyan Moqim 3-26, Arafat Minhas 2-23) lost to Pakistan 112 for 4 in 11.3 overs (Abdul Samad 30 not out, Hasan Nawaz 27 not out) by six wickets.

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