Cagers tame Pakistan

The Bangladesh basketball team defeated Pakistan for the first time in its history to take a giant step towards claiming the 2nd South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Championship yesterday. The hosts beat Pakistan by 77-68 points in a keenly contested and action-filled league match at the Dhanmondi Basketball Gymnasium yesterday.
Bangladesh, the runners-up of the first edition of the championship held in India in 2002, raised the roof of the gymnasium with a rousing victory over favourites Pakistan, thanks to a dazzling performance from Mithun Kumar Biswas, who scored the match-highest 31 points.
Mithun was an absolute rage throughout the game as he hardly put a step wrong. He dodged the Pakistan players with utmost ease, hardly missed a penalty conversion and scored numerous two-pointers to consistently prop up the Bangladesh team whenever they were under pressure. The Navy man was happy with his match-winning performance and more for contributing to the team's success.
“It was my first match against Pakistan. We never beat them before, so I'm happy beyond words. Everyone played brilliantly, not only me,” said the Navy man who plied his trade for Gregarious in the last premier league.
The man-of-the-match's namesake Mithun Kumar Sarker was the second-highest scorer with 17 points while Ahmed Jaan was the top-scorer for Pakistan with 25 points.
The match between the two favourites started cordially as both sides exchanged souvenirs, but soon the friendly atmosphere gave way to action as both sets of players played feverishly to stamp authority. Pakistan held the upper hand early taking a 20-17 lead in the first quarter, but the hosts hit back in the second by gaining a 36-29 advantage. The game swung back again as Pakistan staged a comeback, cutting down the lead to two points, but in the end it was the hosts and their superior technical display that outsmarted the physically superior Pakistanis.
Pakistan grumbled about the refereeing throughout and after the match, with their manager Colonel Butt being the most vocal and theatrical. He complained about almost every decision and said that this virtual title-decider was staged the day before the final day to avoid attention, and that the two Bangladeshi referees among the three officiating were highly partial. Butt's opposite number Wasif Ali also felt that the refereeing was not up to the mark, but it was in no way partial as the officials were all international panel referees.
In the first match of the day, Nepal swept aside Bhutan by 94-42 points.
The championship concludes today with the match between Bangladesh and Maldives. A win for the hosts will crown them as the undefeated champions.