Bangladesh vs Pakistan, 8th Match at Dhaka, , Mar 04 2014 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.15 pm Phew, another nail-biter in this Asia Cup. It's been some amazing fun, but for now we'll have to say goodbye. We know our finalists now. It will be Sri Lanka v Pakistan on Saturday. But there are a few other formalities to get done with. The first is India v Afghanistan tomorrow. Do join us then. This is Alagappan Muthu, signing off

Shahid Afridi is Man of the Match "I tried my level best to perform well. Misbah has great support and it's my type of situation and I had the licence. I was confident that 10, 10.5 an over was possibly so I took a chance. I have to congratulate Bangladesh for the score they put up. We need to do better with the ball. [Who is your batting coach] None, no one. Moin bhai supports me. I knew if I slog I will hit it because it was a very good pitch"

"He's really playing well and he's cashing into his form which is really good for us," says Misbah-ul-Haq. "Everybody knows the kind of players he is when he is in full swing and nobody can stop him. That's really encouraging, we've been playing well in chases and this will give us great confidence in the coming games and years also. We have been playing a lot of cricket here and when the ball starts going, you can't stop it. We have a world class bowling attack and even they couldn't stop it so we knew we can score 10 an over if needed. We have quite a few things in our mind. We don't want to lose the game 260 was also in our mind and we had to distribute our batsmen and that's why we changed the line-up

10.05 pm Time for the presentation. Mushfiqur Rahim says he thought after the last couple of games, we got a good start from the openers and we finished the batting well too. But when Afridi plays like that, he hit our best bowler, Shakib for three sixes in an over, there was very little we can do. They were hoping for a mis-hit and unfortunately he dropped one but thankfully he was out soon after. We bowled a few length balls at the wrong time but overall we played much better than the last few games and we can take a lot of positives from this game

10.00 pm Bangladesh will feel terribly aggrieved at not pulling this off. Their innings was also very similar in the afternoon. A solid ton from Anamul and rampant blitzes from Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan took them to their highest score in ODIs. Things were looking quite good for them with the ball as well with their spinners stifling the scoring for the early part of the game. But against Shahid Afridi in that kind of form, there was very little the hosts could do

9.56 pm Umar Akmal pays tribute to Shahid Afridi by pulling out hte "star man" post. What a run chase and best of all, now no one can come and say Pakistan have no longer chased anything more than 250. It was set up by Ahmed Shehzad, who was admittedly rather slow, but he picked up the pace and completed an elegant century. And then came the whirlwing. Afridi smacked 59 off 25 balls, took the second-fastest fifty on ODIs and put Pakistan ahead. In between all that, Fawad Alam stayed composed in his comeback for Pakistan provided the foil for the destruction at the other end.

Alam thanks his family and friends. It is a big match. I'm playing for Pakistan after three and a half years. It's a big score but it was still chaseable, we thought. Bangaldesh batted well. The coach and captain said to keep wickets in hand and getting 10 runs an over is possible for us. Its my nature to play singles and doubles and my coach and captain always say dont go for a big hit and finish with singles. Then I spoke to Umar and I decided to go for it

Two of two as Alam receives handshakes in the dressing room. Akmal on strike

Tabrez: "You are a very one sided commentator just like ramiz raja.. Hauling praise only one team but completely ignoring the other" Technically, Bangladesh haven't had any answer in the last four overs, have they? Pakistan have made the play and they're on the brink

Three runs to get to seal a spot in the final. Alam is getting a little attention after he fell on his face while completing that second run. A banner from the crowd proclaims, "Tigers, we are still with you"

More prayers sent upstairs by the fans

13 from 12 as there is another mini-conference among the Bangladeshis

ripon: "poor captaincy by mushi, he should try even one over to ziaur, remember ziaur is not a par-timer bowler he is a main bowl after all" Shakib again. Can he pull this off?

MM-usa: "Oh Afridi, if only you were younger!"

Waseem Abbas: "I always struggled to understand what the phrase, an injured lion is more dangerous, means. I am very clear now ... a blinder from Lala again !!!" Razzak's been brought on

Akmal, the new batsman, gets some advice from Afridi. Phew, what an innings! 33 needed off 19 balls.

Mike: "Will Afridi's injury affect his star-man pose? #drama" What a pressing question