KUANTAN (Malaysia), May 14 Spectacular twin strikes from Rehan Butt helped Pakistan outplay Malaysia 4-2 on Thursday in the 8th Asia Cup semi-final at Kuantan Hockey Stadium here on Thursday to set up a title clash with South Korea.

Playing before a strong crowd of 7000, Pakistan recovered from being one goal down to overpower Malaysia with their fast-moving forward line firing on all cylinders.

Rehan, the dashing 29-year-old right winger from Lahore, was the hero of the day in his team's triumph, finding the net in the 20th and 62nd minutes. Left-out Akhtar Ali and centre-forward Haseem Khan netted the other two goals. Abu Ismail slammed both the goals for Malaysia.

It was sweet revenge for Pakistan who had lost to Malaysia 3-2 in last month's Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh.

Pakistan's forward line showed glimpses of the past as they won the match despite wasting all their four penalty corners.

The match got off to a dramatic start as Pakistan earned their first penalty corner in the second minute but to everyone's astonishment, Sohail Abbas could not push the ball properly and wasted a definite scoring chance.

However, on a counter-attack, swift Malaysian forward Abu Ismail scored a brilliant goal with a superb reverse-sweep, cashing in on a blunder by Pakistan full-back Sohail in the third minute to send the crowd cheering with joy.

Pakistan looked a bit down for a while after conceding the goal but picked up the momentum when Rehan, backed by experienced half back Waseem Ahmed, silenced the partisan crowd with a fine field goal in the 20th minute from the right side.

The match was tied 1-1 at the breather but Rehan gave Pakistan 2-1 lead by deflecting an angular cross from Irfan Mahmood.

Pakistan, then sealed the fate of the match by slamming two goals in space of just 18 minutes. Akhtar Ali made it 3-1 in the 65th minute while Haseem Khan increased the lead by scoring another in the 69th minute. Abu Ismail of Malaysia then scored his team's second goal on a rebound in the last minute of the match.

Pakistan is now just a step away from qualifying for the next year's World Cup and regaining the Asia Cup after 20 years.

Earlier on Thursday, world number five South Korea lived up to their favourites tag to blast their way into the Asia Cup final after a 5-1 win over China in the first semi-final.

It is the Koreans' fourth appearance in the final after winning the event in 1994 and 1999. In the 2007 final they lost to India.—APP