India crush Bangladesh by 41 runs to reach final

ASIA CUP

Published : Thursday, 25 September, 2025 at 2:07 PM Count : 12

There were moments of hope, but in the end, Bangladesh suffered a crushing 41-run defeat against India in their second Super Fours match of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing 169, Bangladesh lost an early blow when opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim fell for 1 off 3 to Jasprit Bumrah in the second over. Saif Hassan and Parvez Hossain Emon steadied the innings with a 42-run partnership off 30 balls, keeping dreams of a historic second win over India alive. But after Emon’s dismissal, the middle order collapsed under pressure, unable to match India’s spinners.

Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Axar Patel dominated the middle overs. Kuldeep was the standout, claiming 3 wickets for 18 runs in his 4 overs, while Varun and Axar picked up 2 and 1 wicket respectively.

Saif Hassan fought valiantly, surviving four dropped catches on 19, 40, 65 and 66, to score 69 off 51 balls, including five towering sixes—all off spinners—but was finally dismissed by Bumrah in the 18th over. Apart from Saif and Emon, no other batter reached double figures as Bangladesh were bowled out for 127 with three balls to spare.

Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Jaker Ali, standing in for injured Litton Das, won the toss and elected to field. The Tigers made four changes to the XI, bringing in Parvez Hossain Emon, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and Mohammad Saifuddin in place of Litton, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Mahedi Hasan.

India began aggressively, posting 72 in the powerplay despite Bangladesh’s tight opening overs. Abhishek Sharma set the tone with a 75 off 37 balls, including seven fours and six sixes, while Shubman Gill added 29.

The innings shifted dramatically when Rishad Hossain ran out Abhishek Sharma with a lightning throw from backward point, breaking India’s momentum. Rishad also dismissed Shivam Dube in the ninth over, finishing with figures of 3-0-27-2. Mustafizur Rahman (4-0-33-1) and Tanzim Hasan Sakib (4-0-29-1) tightened the screws in the middle overs, while Mustafizur’s wicket of Suryakumar Yadav took him past Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh’s all-time top wicket-taker with 150 scalps.

Bangladesh fought back at the death, conceding only 72 runs in the last 10 overs. Mohammad Saifuddin’s final over, giving away just four runs and claiming the wicket of Hardik Pandya (38 off 29) kept the score to 168/6.

Despite the defeat, Bangladesh still have a chance to make the final, as they face Pakistan at the same venue on Wednesday at 8:30 PM Bangladesh Standard Time in what could serve as a virtual semifinal.

FP/MI