Irfan's lbw No.4, and Sarfraz's motivational run

Not many will forget Shahid Afridi's freakish blitz in the previous Asia Cup. The situation wasn't much different tonight. A win for Bangladesh would've put them in the final in 2014, a win today had the potential to do the same. Out walked the Pakistan captain with his team at 98 for 5. The Shere Bangla stadium was silent; anxious even. Al-Amin Hossain felt the nerves as well, lobbing up a full toss. But Afridi only outside edged it, and it didn't even carry properly to short third man. Al-Amin couldn't land the next ball on the pitch either, Afridi couldn't time this one either and, after pocketing a pressure catch at deep midwicket, Sabbir Rahman couldn't look happier.

Mohammad Irfan's seven-foot frame affords him certain advantages. Some batsmen may be put off by the ball being released from such a high point, most others find the extra bounce he can generate regardless of the pitch uncomfortable. But the one thing they didn't have to worry about was getting lbw. In fact, out of 101 wickets in international cricket, Irfan had only knocked three batsmen down by trapping them in front. Tamim Iqbal, coming back into the team after the birth of his first child, became lucky number four in Irfan's first over tonight. Virtues of pitching the ball right up there. The fact that it was 146 kph may have helped a bit too.

Job 1: Bowl full at the stumps. Mohammad Sami accomplished that just fine. So much that Mashrafe Mortaza had scooped the ball right down Sharjeel Khan's throat at long-off. But even as the ball was in its descent, umpire Anil Chaudhary's hand had shot up to signal a no-ball. Mashrafe himself was clued into the fact very late, since he was watching the ball and probably feeling his stomach plummet with along with the chances of victory. Finally he realised he couldn't be out caught and even squeezed in a second run as Sharjeel's throw from the deep came as a limp, loopy lob.

Pakistan have always maintained 100% belief in their bowling attack. That's not always been the case with their fielding. But having posted only 129 on the board, they couldn't afford to have any more mishaps. Umar Akmal did his best to avoid one as he prevented a Soumya Sarkar reverse sweep from reaching the point boundary. Shahid Afridi, the bowler, clapped his hands in applause, there was a pat on the back from the fine-leg fielder as well. But the strangest sight was Sarfraz Ahmed leaving his wicketkeeping position, running all the way to Akmal and offering his support.

Mohammad Hafeez rubbed his thigh as soon as the Mashrafe Mortaza delivery in the fifth over struck him. There was no bat involved but when Hafeez looked up, he saw that umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge had raised his finger. He looked around for a second, before slowly trudging off and when he was doing so, the giant screen on top of the grand-stand showed a replay that made Hafeez smirk in bemusement. The ball had done enough to beat his bat but when it struck his pads, it was high and going down the leg-side too.