Dubai(September 26, 2018): The final match of the Super Four stage of the 2018 Asia Cup is a clash between Pakistan and Bangladesh at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, September 26. It’s virtually a semi-final clash, where the winner takes it all. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh will be vying for the place in the final against India on September 28.
The teams have met thirteen times in Asia Cup history, where Pakistanis hold a clear dominance with twelve wins.
Pakistan and Bangladesh will make few changes in their playing XI before the important clash as it will be a do or die situation for both teams.
The men in Green are likely to select Junaid Khan who hasn’t played a single match in this tournament. The top order will mainly focus on the trio of Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam. While from Bangladesh Soumya Sarkar might get back into the playing XI after flop show from the openers.
Expected Pakistan XI: Sarfraz Ahmed(c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan and Junaid Khan.
Expected Bangladesh XI: Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim(wk), Mohammad Mithun, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.
Pakistan will have to win this match if they want to qualify for the finals. They lost their last game against India by eight wickets. Shoaib Malik was the key performer with the bat as he scored 78 runs, but he failed to convert it into a century. The Pakistani bowling was a bit lackluster and was unable to remove the Indian openers before the match got out of hand.
Bangladesh won a thrilling encounter against Afghanistan by three runs on September 23. They bounced back in the tournament after their two successive losses against Afghanistan and India.
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