Samad special books Pakistan's spot in gold-medal clash

Abdul Samad blazed Bangladesh in a calculated attack that handed Pakistan a six-wicket win and a spot in the Asian Games gold medal match. Samad cracked an unbeaten 30 off 15 balls, with five fours and a six as they clinched the 13-over game, reduced due to a wet outfield, in Nisshin.

Samad and Hasan Nawaz, who made 27 off 22 balls, added 59 runs in an unbroken fifth wicket stand and finished the chase with nine balls to spare. It wasn't a straightforward march, though, as Pakistan's batters kept throwing away their wickets after good starts.

Bangladesh nick the powerplay

Mahedi Hasan had Pakistan captain Sahibzada Farhan hole out to long-on, for one, in the first over of the chase. Maaz Sadaqat looked fresh out of his CPL final century. He launched Nasum Ahmed for a straight six, followed it with a swept four. The left-arm spinner though had the last laugh, when Sadaqat fell in the second over.

Saim Ayub had a very similar pattern in his short stay. He cracked Mustafizur Rahman for two sixes in the fourth over, flicked over square leg and another clubbed through midwicket. Like Nasum, Mustafizur had the last laugh at the end of the over, when Ayub handed a simple catch to deep midwicket.

Samad cracks open the game

Rishad removed the dangerous Usman Khan, caught at short third upon trying to reverse sweep the legspinner, in the seventh over. Nawaz, thus far struggling to get the ball off the square, hammered Nasum for two sixes at the end of the eighth over to help Pakistan's cause.

Samad took over from that point. First, he took Mustafizur to the cleaners, with a slog sweep over long-on for his first six, followed by fours through point, midwicket and fine leg, apart from an inside-edged boundary. Samad got them home, with his fifth boundary - smashed down the ground - in the 12th over.

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