Bangladesh get first-ever Asian Games gold

Bangladesh's cricketers won their country its first-ever gold medal in the Asian Games by beating Afghanistan in a thrilling final in Guangzhou. In a see-saw match that attracted a crowd of 2000, 19-year-old Shabbir Rahman smashed two sixes in the penultimate over to decisively swing the match Bangladesh's way and dash Afghan hopes of a gold. A day after upsetting fancied Pakistan in the semi-finals, Afghanistan looked set for a hammering when they slid to 66 for 6 in the 13th over on choosing to bat. Youngsters Asghar Stanikzai (38*) and Shabir Noori (25) then gave Afghanistan's chances a boost with a robust stand that left Bangladesh needing 120 for victory. With 19 needed off the final two overs, Bangladesh were the underdogs but they clubbed 17 runs of the 19th over bowled by offspinner Karim Sadiq, who had excellent figures of 2-0-10-2 before that, to transform the game.