The match for the bronze medal in the Asian games men’s cricket ended in the most traumatic fashion. Bangladesh and Pakistan faced off against each other in the match after having lost their semi final matches against India and Afghanistan respectively. The game turned out to be a nail biter as it went down to the last ball. Bangladesh eventually triumphed off the last ball of the match to register a famous win.
The match was highly interrupted by rain on a number of ocassions which caused it to be reduced to just 5 overs per side. Pakistan batted first and put on 48 runs for the loss of a wicket in their 5 overs. Mirza Tahir Baig top scored for his side with his sublime 32 off 18. The total that was set for Bangladesh to chase as per the D/L method was that of 65 runs in 5 overs.
Bangladesh got off to a terrible start in the chase as they lost two wickets in the first over itself. Arshad Hossain along with Yasir began their work to get the chase back on track. The duo smashed 19 runs off the second over. Afif Hossain who was finding the boundary regularly was eventually dismissed for a breezy 20 off 11 balls. The match came down to the last over with Bangladesh requiring 20 runs off the last over. Sufiyan Muqeem was handed the ball with Yasir Ali on strike.
The Bangladeshi batter smashed a six off the first ball of the final over. He notched a couple of runs in the next ball and then followed it up with another sixer off the third ball of the over. The fourth ball resulted in a couple of runs yet again for Bangladesh. With 4 needed off the final two deliveries, Yasir Ali tried to go big and ended up edging the ball back onto his stumps much to the delight of the bowler and fielding side.
Rakibul Hasan came to the crease with 4 needed off 1 to win. The left hander took a couple of steps forward before smashing a precise shot towards the mid wicket region in between the two fielders to gather four brilliant runs and hand Bangladesh a beautiful win against the odds. Pakistan this were handed a devastating loss out of nowhere as Bangladesh came from behind to seal a magnificent win.