After inviting Pakistan to bat, Bangladesh new ball pair Mashrafe Mortaza and Nazmul Hossain dismissed Nasir Jamshed and Younis Khan early to give hosts early control.
Mashrafe Mortaza gave Bangladesh the first breakthrough by getting Jamshed caught by Mahmudullah in the fifth over.
Jamshed scored 9 runs before mistiming a slower delivery in the hands of Mahmudullah in the covers.
Pakistan lost their second wicket when Hossain trapped Younis plumb in front of the wicket.
Abdur Razzak struck to dismiss a well settled Mohammad Hafeez to give Pakistan fourth blow at the score of 70 in the 22 nd over.
Razzak got Hafeez (40), who tried hard to rescue his side from early setback, caught by Nazmul Hossain 15 runs after Nasir Hossain ran out Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq with a direct.
Misbah scored a 23-ball 13 before getting run out.
After a steady stand for the fifth wicket, Shakib Al Hasan removed Hammad Azam (30) to give Pakistan fifth blow at the score of 129. Before the visitors could recover from the jolt, Mahmudullah ended Umar Akmal's (30) challenge.
Hasan claimed his second victim in the form of Shahid Afridi to give Pakistan seventh blow at the score 178 in the 42 nd over.
Hasan got Afridi caught by Hossain after his fiery show. Afridi smashed 32 off 22 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and a six.
Mortaza then dismissed Umar Gul to give Pakistan eighth blow one short of the 200-mark in the 45 th over.
Bangladesh are unchanged and Pakistan have brought in Sarfraz Ahmed for Wahab Riaz.
Since their arrival into the big league in 1999, a place in the Asia Cup final is the biggest moment for Bangladesh cricket. It was mayhem on the streets on Dhaka on Tuesday night when they beat Sri Lanka to set up the final clash against Pakistan, and the dust is yet to settle.
The biggest challenge for the Bangladesh players now is to gather their thoughts, put their heads down and get ready for another big fight against Pakistan.
Post their wins against India and Sri Lanka, the belief in the Bangladesh camp is unbelievable and the feeling is that they can beat just about anyone. Asking-rates of eight plus are not bothering the players anymore and that's the confidence that they want to take into the final.
Bangladesh, though, lost to Pakistan in the group stage when they started off well only to falter at the crunch.
The confidence in the Bangladesh camp comes from the fact that the team is not solely dependent on Shakib and Tamim Iqbal anymore.
Playing a final at home under such pressure is not an easy job for an inexperienced side and the canny Pakistanis are looking to tighten the screws. They, of course, were in for a shock on Sunday when Virat Kohli ran away with the game, but that's history now.
Pakistan have an excellent bowling line-up led by pacer Umar Gul and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. And there's Mohammad Hafeez too, and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is sure to unleash them against Bangladesh's two big left-handers, Shakib and Tamim.
Teams:
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (Capt.), Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Jahurul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Nazmul Hossain.
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