Pakistani man loses cricket bet, commits suicide

A 50-year-old Pakistani man committed suicide after he bet a month's salary on a cricket match between Pakistan and Bangladesh which his country lost.

Muhammad Shafiq, a junior clerk in the Punjab irrigation department, was on Thursday found hanging from a fan in his office, Dawn online reported on Friday.

His brother Muhammad Ramzan said Shafiq had gambled his salary of Rs.30,000 on the match. "My brother committed suicide after losing money on the match."

Bangladesh beat Pakistan to seal place in final

A composed cameo from Mahmudullah and some terrible fielding from Pakistan ensured that Bangladesh reached the finals of the Asia Cup for only the second time in their history.

Pakistan’s batting got off to a horrendous start as the Bangladeshi bowlers produced an impressive display. Backed by a vociferous crowd, Taskin Ahmed started proceedings with a probing over. Al-Amin Hossain reaped the rewards by getting rid of Khurram Manzoor with an unplayable delivery.

Pakistan were in dire straits at 28/4 from 8.2 overs and the match was slipping away quickly. Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed combined to produce a stirring partnership which restored parity. The duo put on 70 runs from just 40 balls as the momentum shifted drastically. Sarfaraz continued on his merry ways and reached a well deserved fifty. He went from strength to strength as Pakistan finished at a competitive 129/7 out of which 95 came in the last 10.

Sami’s over costs Pakistan dearly

When the hosts came out to chase, their intent was clear. Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar went after the new-ball duo of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Irfan. After a wristy pick-up shot for six, Iqbal perished to the gigantic Irfan.

Sabbir Rahman joined Sarkar and negated the Power-Play overs to set the ball rolling. Despite beating the bat on numerous occasions, Irfan could not pluck out another wicket. Afridi brought himself on during the seventh over itself and broke through when Rahman tried to dance down the track to a 101 KMPH slider.

The home team needed 40 off the last 5 as the nerves started to creep in. Despite Shakib’s wicket, Mahmudullah’s maximum and consecutive boundaries from Mortaza tilted the scales back in their favour.

Sami overstepped twice in the 19th over to compound Pakistan’s woes and Ali conceded the final runs as Bangladesh romped home in the end.