India qualify for final, knock Sri Lanka out

Thursday, 25 September 2025 03:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Second finalist to be decided between Pakistan and Bangladesh today

DUBAI: India beat Bangladesh by 41 runs in their Asia Cup Super Fours match played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium yesterday to become the first team to seal their spot in the final, while Sri Lanka bow out of the tournament.

That left Pakistan and Bangladesh facing off in a straight knockout clash today for the second finalist spot. The match could have been over much earlier if not for the dropped catches of Saif Hassan, which gave Bangladesh faint hope. However, India always had their nose in front.

Abhishek Sharma lit up the evening once again with another rollicking knock (75 off 37 balls, 6 fours, 5 sixes) to give India a flying start. However, his unfortunate run-out shifted the momentum, and the innings lost steam from then on. What looked like a potential 200 ended up at 168 for India.

In the chase, Hassan fought valiantly, but never got enough support from the other batters. After surviving four dropped chances, he finally ran out of luck when Bumrah sent him packing for a well compiled 69 off 51 balls (3 fours, 5 sixes). From there on, India tightened the screws and closed out a convincing win with their wrist-spinners being outstanding, sharing five wickets between them and squeezing the life out of the Bangladesh batting order. – [ST]

Scores:

India 168-6 (20) (Abhishek Sharma 75, Shubman Gill 29, Hardik Pandya 38, Rishad Hossain 2/27)

Bangladesh 127 (19.3) (Saif Hassan 69, Parvez Hossain 21, Jasprit Bumrah 2/18, Varun Chakravarthy 2/29, Kuldeep Yadav 3/18)