Daijiworld Media Network - Nagoya

Nagoya, Sep 22: Fatima Sana's aggressive 45 off 30 balls and a three-wicket spell from Umm-e-Hani helped Pakistan defeat Bangladesh by 31 runs in the women's bronze-medal playoff at the Asian Games on Monday.

Pakistan were struggling at 67 for five in the 12th over after opting to bat first. Sana then changed the complexion of the innings, scoring at a strike rate of 150 to help Pakistan post 145.

She was well supported by Aliya Riaz, who scored 25 off 22 balls. The pair added 67 runs for the sixth wicket from just 43 balls, hitting five sixes between them and taking Pakistan from a difficult position to a competitive total.

Pakistan had made a steady start through Gull Feroza and Shawaal Zulfiqar. The pair added 46 runs from 41 balls before Feroza was dismissed in the seventh over for 31 off 23 balls.

Zulfiqar struggled to accelerate and was eventually dismissed for 17 off 27 balls. Shorna Akter claimed two wickets as Bangladesh continued to put pressure on Pakistan, leaving them five wickets down before Sana's counter-attacking innings.

Bangladesh's chase never gathered momentum. Umm-e-Hani struck in the third over, returned to claim another wicket in the fifth and completed her three-wicket haul in the 16th over. She finished with figures of 3 for 10 from four overs.

Bangladesh were reduced to 77 for five with less than five overs remaining, leaving them with too much ground to cover.

Veteran batter Sharmin Akhter provided some resistance with an unbeaten 46 off 45 balls, but lacked sufficient support at the other end as Bangladesh finished well short of the target.

Pakistan's bowlers also kept Bangladesh under pressure by restricting their scoring opportunities throughout the chase. Bangladesh faced 43 dot balls, an improvement from the 61 dot balls they played out in their semi-final against India, but the slow scoring proved costly.

Pakistan secured a comfortable 31-run victory to claim the women's cricket bronze medal at the Asian Games.