Asian Games 2023: Bangladesh beat Pakistan to clinch women's cricket bronze

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Bowlers shine as Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets in the Asian Games 2023 bronze medal match, winning the country's first medal in this year's continental event on Monday (September 25) at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field in Hangzhou, China.

After an all round bowling effort restricted superiorly ranked Pakistan to 64/9 in 20 overs, Shorna Akter, who had claimed three wickets in the match, saw Bangladesh home with an unbeaten 14 on a sluggish wicket.

Openers Shamima Sultana and Shathi Rani also contributed with 13 runs each as Bangladesh completed the run chase in 18.2 overs. For Pakistan, Nashra Sandhu took three wickets for 10 runs in her four overs to end the game with the best bowling figures, but that wasn't enough to help her side to the medal.

Earlier, put into bat, Pakistan lost the top four with just 18 runs on the board after 8.2 overs as Marufa Akter, Sanjida Akter Meghla, Nahida Akter and Rabeya Khan ran through the opposition batters. Aliya Riaz was the top-scorer in the match with 17 off 18 balls.

Overall, only 9 boundaries were struck in the match with a similar kind of wicket likely to be used in the gold medal match between India and Sri Lanka, scheduled for later on Monday (September 25).

India women beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets to seal their final berth, while Sri Lanka claimed a six-wicket victory over Pakistan to reach the summit clash. In the last three matches, the teams batting have struggled to post a total past 100. So, another low-scoring game could be on the cards in the final.