Afridi, Rauf and Ayub set up a Pakistan vs India Asia Cup final

It has taken more than 40 years but we finally have it: an India-Pakistan Asia Cup final. Pakistan scrapped their way into the title clash after defending 135 against Bangladesh in Dubai.

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Shaheen Afridi continues to be photogenic with his celebrations

After Shaheen Shah Afridi struck twice in three powerplay overs, Pakistan's spinners tightened the screws, finding sharp turn and grip. After bagging his fourth duck in six innings in the Asia Cup, Saim Ayub produced a double-strike and ensured Bangladesh's batting spiralled out of control.

It was one of those bizarre games where the team that hit more sixes ended up losing. Pakistan had managed just five sixes and Bangladesh had matched that tally by the tenth over of the chase. They eventually finished with seven sixes but as they searched for more on a pitch that perhaps wasn't conducive to that style, they kept holing out.

Pakistan's batters had suffered a similar meltdown earlier in the day, but Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Nawaz did enough to drag them to 135 on a used surface, a total that at the end of the day was enough by 11 runs.

Taskin Ahmed rested for Wednesday's game against India, hit the ground running by dismissing the inform Sahibzada Farhan for 4. He became the third Bangladesh player after Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, to 100 T20I wickets.