HANGZHOU: Pakistan missed out on bronze in men’s cricket at the Asian Games after losing a rain-shortened, last-ball thriller against Bangladesh on Saturday while weightlifter Mohammad Abdullah Butt ended sixth in the men’s +109kg final.

On another disappointing day for Pakistan, wrestlers Zaman Anwar, Inayatullah and Haider Ali all failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals of their respective categories while karateka Sabira Gul exited the women’s kumite -55kg competition in the last-16 stage.

The closest Pakistan came to securing a medal, though, was at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.

Persistent rain delayed the start, with Pakistan losing the toss and being sent in when the drizzle eased.

But they only managed 48-1 off five overs before the weather halted play, with Mirza Baig making an unbeaten 32.

Under the DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method, Bangladesh were set a revised target of 65 to win off their five overs and they got there in dramatic fashion with four wickets down.

The chase began disastrously, with Pakistan quick Arshad Iqbal removing Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan and captain Saif Hassan for ducks in the first three balls.

But Afif Hossain (20) steadied the innings with number four Yasir Ali (34), who went on a slogging spree to drive Bangladesh to the brink of victory.

Needing 20 runs in the last over, Yasir smashed 16 of them, including two sixes in the first four balls before being bowled by Sufiyan Muqeem.

Rakibal Hasan then whacked the left-arm spinner to the boundary on the last ball to spark wild scenes from the Bangladesh team and condemn Pakistan to a medal-less tournament.

Abdullah lifted a total of 335kg at the Xiaoshan Sports Centre Gymnasium but was always behind the pacesetters as he finished 88kg short of bronze medal.

Having lifted 145kg in the snatch, Abdullah could only manage 190kg in the clean and jerk, failing an attempt on 200kg with his final lift.

Bahrain’s Gor Minasyan won gold with a Games record total of 457kg.

Over at the Lin’an Sports Culture and Exhibition Centre, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Zaman was at the end of 10-0 reverse to Iranian Amir Hossein Zare in their 125kg freestyle quarter-final bout. He was then edged by China’s Buheerdun 3-2 in their repechage bout.

His compatriots didn’t fare well too with Inayat going down 0-11 to China’s Lu Feng in their 74kg freestyle quarter-final while Haider lost by a similar scoreline to Uzbek Javrail Shapiev in the 86kg freestyle event.

Cambodia’s Sok Vicheka Lim ousted Sabira 5-1 at the Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium, the latter scoring her only point after falling 3-0 down in the bout.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2023