Mustafizur Rahman endured a disastrous bowling outing as Bangladesh lost to Pakistan by six wickets in a rain-curtailed Asian Games semi-final at the Nisshin Korogi Sports Park on Thursday.
The left-arm seamer conceded 41 runs from just two overs, allowing Pakistan to comfortably chase down a revised 112-run target in 11.3 overs and advance to the gold medal match.
Batted first in a 13-over-a-side contest, Bangladesh posted 111-7 after recovering from a middle-order collapse. Towhid Hridoy top-scored with a punchy 42 off 25 balls, hitting two fours and four sixes, while sharing a crucial recovery partnership with Mosaddek Hossain (11).
Left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqim caused early damage with 3-26, supported by Arafat Minhas’ 2-23, as Bangladesh slumped to 45-4 inside six overs after Litton Das (2), Parvez Hossain Emon (1), and Tanzid Hasan (7) fell cheaply.
Defending 111 on a slow surface, Bangladesh struck early through Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed to remove openers Sahibzada Farhan and Maj Sadaqat.
Mustafizur dismissed Saim Ayub for 21, but not before the opener smashed two consecutive sixes off his first two deliveries. Rishad Hossain then removed Usman Khan for 14, leaving Pakistan reeling at 53-4.
However, the match turned decisively in Pakistan’s favor as Abdul Samad (30 not out off 15) and Hasan Nawaz (27 not out) launched an unpunished assault on Mustafizur.
The pair put together an unbroken 59-run partnership, with Mustafizur’s second over leaking boundary after boundary to effectively end the contest with nine balls to spare.
Bangladesh will now compete in Sunday’s bronze medal playoff against the loser of the second semi-final between India and Sri Lanka.
