Bangladesh suffered a six-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the first semi-final of the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket tournament at Korogi Sports Park in Nagoya, Japan, on Thursday, October 01. The rain-affected match was reduced to 13 overs per side, with Bangladesh posting 111-7 after being sent in to bat first. Pakistan chased down the target in 11.3 overs, reaching 112-4 with nine balls to spare.
Bangladesh made a disastrous start, losing three wickets for just 21 runs inside the fourth over. Tanzid Hasan was dismissed for seven, while captain Litton Das and Parvez Hossain Emon contributed only two and one, respectively. The team benefited from 19 extras, including 15 wides, to reach their total in the shortened format.
Bangladesh’s captain Litton Das stated that the early batting collapse stemmed directly from their lack of familiarity with the Nagoya pitch conditions. The team had not watched any completed match at the venue in the days leading up to the semi-final and had no opportunity to train on the actual playing surface before their innings.
“Once a 20-over game is played on a wicket, you get an idea about how it behaves. We had no idea because we hadn’t watched any game here in the last few days and we didn’t have the opportunity to practise on the wicket,” Das said after the match.
“So we played the first few overs without an idea. Gradually, the batters got an idea,” the wicketkeeper-batter added.
Towhid Hridoy got a special mention from the skipper for his gutsy knock of 42 runs off 25 balls. Saif Hassan (19) and Mosaddek Hossain (11) were the two other batters who reached double figures.
“Credit goes to Hridoy for bringing the team back from that position. The partnership between Mosaddek and Hridoy was very good,” he said.
Dismal bowling through the middle overs and conceding way too many sixes were highlighted as the main problems for Bangladesh by Das.
“I think if we could have bowled a little better in the middle overs, and conceded fewer sixes, we would have had a better chance,” Das said.
The captain also defended his decision to use Mustafizur Rahman, who conceded a whopping 41 runs in two overs.
“There were many options. If Mustafiz had taken three wickets today, you wouldn’t have asked this question. He has been doing it for so long. I felt Mustafiz was the best option and I used him,” Das stated.
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Bangladesh will now take on Sahan Arachchige’s Sri Lanka in the Bronze Medal match at the same venue on Saturday, October 3.
