Dawn
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18:51 Sep 24, 2025
India secured their place in the men’s Asia Cup final on Wednesday as Abhishek Sharma starred with 75 in a 41-run win over Bangladesh in Dubai. The holders posted 168-6 batting first after stumbling following a quick start, but their spinners helped stifle Bangladesh to 127 all out. The result means Sri Lanka are out of the tournament, with Thursday’s Super Four match between Pakistan and Bangladesh to decide who faces India in Sunday’s final. Abhishek has enjoyed a remarkable start to his T20 international career with 783 runs from 22 matches at a strike-rate of 197.72. The opener set up victory with another brilliant innings, striking six sixes and five fours in his 37-ball blitz, which ended with a run-out caused by a mix-up with captain Suryakumar Yadav. Both Abhishek and fellow opener Shubman Gill, who made 29, started cautiously before the two took on left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, smashing 21 runs off the fourth over. Abhishek reached his fifty off just 25 balls after Gill fell to leg-spinner Rishad Hos...