Twitter Reactions: Junaid Khan's 4/19 helps Pakistan restrict Bangladesh to 239

Bangladesh and Pakistan locked horns today in Abu Dhabi which is a shootout between the two teams. The winner of the game will qualify for the final and play against India on Friday in Dubai. While the Asia Cup witnessed one of its most exhilarating contest on Tuesday, even this game seems to be going close after Bangladesh fought back from an extremely poor situation to post a somewhat competitive total of 239 runs.

They opted to bat first after winning the toss and were soon reduced to 12/3. The comeback man Junaid Khan was incisive in his opening spell as he sent back their openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar after which Shaheen Afridi rocked the stumps of Mominul Haque. Then the duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun joined hand and like they did against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, turned the game around with a scintillating partnership.

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was also responsible for it as he let the opposition off the hook with some defensive field settings and didn’t give his bowlers any chance to pick wickets. However, it was Hasan Ali who struck to break the 144-run stand by taking Mithun’s wicket. Rahim looked set to notch up his seventh ODI ton but was scalped by the youngster Afridi.

Pakistan comes back in death overs

Fall of wickets at the wrong time hurt Bangladesh as they didn’t have a set batsman in the death overs to attack the bowlers. Junaid Khan bowled extremely well and he also castled their last hope Mahmudullah in the 48th over to leave Bangladesh reeling at 230/8. Their hopes of crossing the 250-run mark were somewhat shattered after being well placed at 156/3 in the 34th over.

Eventually, they posted only 245 runs and failed to play the full quota of their overs. Junaid was the pick of the bowlers as he ended up with the magical figures of 5/24 in his ten overs and was literally the saviour for Pakistan. He was well supported by Afridi and Hasan Ali to some extent.

It will be interesting to see the way Pakistan approach this chase as the pitch will get slower and the spinners are likely to come into the game.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the innings:

Great knock to Mushfiqur #99 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
46th player to do so in ODI cricket.
Welcome to the #99 club! @StarSportsIndia #SelectDugout

— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) September 26, 2018

Tremendous performance by @JunaidkhanREAL – with the new ball and at the death,bowled in good areas and gave nothing away,can he get a fifer? #PakvBan

— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) September 26, 2018

It is imperative for a team captain to stay calm under pressure, it rubs on to the team, emotions cloud decision making #Sarafraz #Pakisthan #PAKvsBAN #AsiaCup18

— subramani badrinath (@s_badrinath) September 26, 2018

Just when the match looked like it slipped from Bangladesh's hands, @mushfiqur15 and M. Mithun lifted the score up with a great 100 run partnership! Way to go! #PakvBan #AsiaCup2018

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 26, 2018

Sarfraz has allowed the game to drift…rated him highly as a skipper post the Champions Trophy success. He’s looked a patch of that in this #AsiaCup

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 26, 2018

What if India had their batting order like this?
1) Manish,
2)Karthik,
3)Rayudu,
4) Kedar,
5)Shikhar,
6)Rohit,
7)Virat.
That’s what Bangladesh do, send their better players down the order. #AsiaCup

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 26, 2018

I don't know why Junaid Khan was not picked up for earlier matches.this is great injustice with him #PAKvBAN

— KKA (@AbrejoAli) September 26, 2018

Junaid Khan has now more ODI wickets in this match than Mohammad Amir has taken in 2018. #PAKvBAN #AsiaCup2018

— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) September 26, 2018

Bangladesh could have easily lost this early but Rahim and Mithun have given them something to bowl. Should be a good chase

— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) September 26, 2018

Junaid Khan !!! The most underrated Bowler ! What a Come back Juni… And Finally Mickey's favt are out now…#PAKvBAN

— Ab (@iamABBas_Khan) September 26, 2018

Junaid khan has done exactly what we expect of amir. Beautiful!

— hamza (@hmza_n) September 26, 2018

The silver lining in the tournament so far for Pakistan is Shaheen Shah Afridi. Brilliant bowler and exciting talent. Has the potential to serve Pakistan for a long time. #AsiaCup

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 26, 2018

Did Junaid Khan surpass Amir's wickets tally since CT in 1 match? 👀

— Reحan (@RehanTCh) September 26, 2018

Despite run short to his hundred, Mushfiqur Rahim done an excellent job helped his team get away from crisis sitution after falling early three wickets. Brilliant performance#PAKvBAN

— Sarfraz Ahmed Rana (@ranasarfraz3417) September 26, 2018

Junaid Khan you beauty man 🤩#PAKvBAN

— Skanwel (@skanwel1) September 26, 2018

Unlucky Mushfiqur Rahim , missed his hundred by only 1 run as Shaheen Afridi got him on 99.
What an innings it was from him, a highlight of the innings he played against Sri Lanka earlier in the #AsiaCup2018 .#PAKvBAN #BANvPAK#AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/bHkDZeXpTw

— Fahad Abbasi (@imfahadabbasi17) September 26, 2018

Mushfiqur Rahim creates an unwanted record for Bangladesh. #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/0GnBoMaxqr

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) September 26, 2018

Oh Mushfiqur Rahim ! Why do such things happen to you?

— Fahim Razi Prantik (@razi_fahim) September 26, 2018

Why 99!😑😢
No matter , it's Superb knock!
Mushfiqur Rahim ,
Mr. Dependable💜
Big match player 💚
always performs when the team need most..😘😍
No word found to describe….
Thank u man 🙏
💟💝🇧🇩🇧🇩💖💓#PAKvBAN #BANvPAK #AsiaCup2018 #AsiaCup2108 #Bangladesh #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/2F7BeMmGiC

— Mahbub Tamim ™ (@MahbubTamim) September 26, 2018

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