Pakistan end a 12-year Asian Games medal wait as they beat Bangladesh to bronze

Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 31 runs at Korogi Sports Park to take the Asian Games women's cricket bronze, their first medal in the sport since 2014

Pakistan chose to bat and were 67 for 5 inside the 12th over before captain Fatima Sana struck 45 from 30 balls to lift them to 145 for 8.

Bangladesh never got close to that rate. Off-spinner Umm-e-Hani returned 3-10 from her four overs, and Bangladesh finished on 114 for 7 from their 20.

The result reverses the third-place match at Hangzhou in 2023, where Bangladesh beat Pakistan by five wickets, and gives Pakistan a third Asian Games cricket medal to go with the golds of 2010 and 2014.

A collapse and a captain's answer

Gull Feroza and Shawaal Zulfiqar opened with 46, Feroza making 31 from 23 balls before the innings turned against them.

Four more wickets fell for 21 runs, leaving Pakistan 67 for 5 with more than eight overs unused and a total of any substance looking unlikely.

Fatima Sana took the innings on from there, her 45 coming at better than a run and a half to the ball and dragging the target back above 140.

Aliya Riaz was the other batter to make runs, 25 from 22, and between them they turned a salvage job into something Pakistan could bowl at.

Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter and Nahida Akter took two wickets each for Bangladesh, Shorna's coming for six runs and Nahida's for 21.

Umm-e-Hani squeezes the chase

Chasing 146, Bangladesh lost three wickets for 20 runs in 4.1 overs, a passage that effectively settled the medal.

Umm-e-Hani did the damage through the middle overs, her spell of 3-10 the most economical of the match and the reason the required rate never came down.

Tasmia Rubab, Nashra Sandhu, Ayesha Zafar and Fatima Sana took a wicket apiece as Pakistan rotated their spinners and kept the field up.

Bangladesh's 114 for 7 came at 5.7 an over, and the chase was out of reach long before the 20th.

Sharmin Akhter runs out of partners

Sharmin Akhter batted through the innings for 46 not out from 45 balls, the only Bangladesh innings to last.

Captain Nigar Sultana made 25 from 30 and put on 47 with her for the fourth wicket, the stand that briefly kept the chase alive.

Sultana fell in the 14th over and no one else reached 20, leaving Sharmin to farm the strike with the asking rate long out of range.

Three years on from Hangzhou

At the last Asian Games, Pakistan managed 64 for 9 in the bronze match and Bangladesh knocked off the runs in 18.2 overs to win by five wickets.

Pakistan went home fourth from that tournament, the first at which cricket had been staged since their 2014 gold.

Tuesday put them back on the podium against the same opponent, and this time with a total to defend rather than one to explain.

It is Pakistan's first medal of these Games and their third in cricket across the four editions in which the sport has been on the programme.

Gold still to be settled

India and Sri Lanka met for the gold medal at the same ground later on Tuesday, a repeat of the 2023 final that India won by 19 runs.

India came through the knockouts by beating hosts Japan and then Bangladesh by 114 runs, while Sri Lanka accounted for Malaysia and Pakistan.

The two also met in the Women's Asia Cup final on 13 September, where India won by 72 runs in Dubai.

Scorecard: Pakistan Women 145 for 8 in 20 overs (Fatima Sana 45, Gull Feroza 31, Aliya Riaz 25; Shorna Akter 2-6, Nahida Akter 2-21, Ritu Moni 2 wickets) beat Bangladesh Women 114 for 7 in 20 overs (Sharmin Akhter 46*, Nigar Sultana 25; Umm-e-Hani 3-10) by 31 runs

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