Umm-e-Hani conceded only 10 runs in her four overs, including a wicket-maiden, as Pakistan overcame Bangladesh’s early resistance to restrict them to 114 for seven after posting 145 for eight.

The medal is Pakistan’s third in the women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games, following gold-medal triumphs in 2010 and 2014.

It also marked a measure of redemption for Pakistan, who had lost the bronze-medal match to Bangladesh at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Pakistan had been in danger of posting a modest total after collapsing from 46 without loss to 67 for five, but Fatima changed the course of the innings with an aggressive 30-ball 45.

The captain, who struck three fours and three sixes, added 67 from 43 balls with Aliya Riaz to take Pakistan towards a competitive total. Aliya contributed 25 from 22 balls, including two sixes and a four.

Fatima’s innings was particularly significant in the context of her prolific year. She entered the match as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in women’s Twenty20 internationals in 2026 and took her tally to 540 with Tuesday’s knock. She also remains Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is this year.

Earlier, Pakistan made a steady start after Fatima won the toss and elected to bat, with Gull Feroza and Shawaal Zulfiqar putting on 46 in 6.4 overs.

Gull struck six fours in her 23-ball 31 before Nahida Akter ended the opening stand, while Shawaal made 17 from 27 balls.

Bangladesh then seized control, taking five wickets for 21 runs to leave Pakistan struggling at 67 for five. Fatima and Aliya, however, rebuilt the innings before accelerating after Pakistan reached 90 for five in 15 overs.

Fatima struck Rabeya Khan for six before both batters cleared the ropes against Sanjida Akter in the 17th over. Pakistan added 55 runs in the final five overs, although Bangladesh hit back by taking two wickets and conceding only seven in the final over.

Nahida, Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni claimed two wickets apiece for Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s defence began emphatically as Umm-e-Hani and Tasmia Rubab reduced Bangladesh to 20 for three inside five overs.

Umm-e-Hani struck in her first over, removing Juairiya Ferdous, before Tasmia dismissed Dilara Akter for 12. Umm-e-Hani then removed Sobhana Mostary early in the fifth over.

All three catches in the opening exchanges were taken by Saira Jabeen, including a spectacular effort at the cover boundary to dismiss Dilara.

Bangladesh’s hopes rested on captain Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Akhter, who added 47 for the fourth wicket. Nigar made 25 off 30 balls with three fours, while Sharmin remained unbeaten on 46 from 45 balls, hitting four fours.

But with Bangladesh requiring more than 10 runs an over at the halfway stage, the task became increasingly difficult. Ayesha Zafar trapped Nigar leg-before in the 14th over, before Umm-e-Hani and Fatima struck in successive overs to remove Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni.

Umm-e-Hani’s dismissal of Shorna for six gave her career-best T20I figures of three for 10, improving on her previous best of two for 28 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla earlier this year.

Nashra Sandhu removed Rabeya Khan for the seventh wicket with Bangladesh on 93, leaving the target beyond their reach.

Fatima also chipped in with the wicket of Ritu Moni, taking her tally to 31 wickets in T20Is in 2026.

Pakistan’s campaign had begun with a three-wicket victory over Thailand in the quarter-final before Sri Lanka beat them by eight wickets in the semi-final.

The bronze-medal victory ensured they returned home from the Asian Games with a podium finish.

India clinch gold

India routed Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to take home gold.

The Women in Blue batted first and posted an imposing 216-3 on the board, on the back of standout knocks by openers Smriti Mandhana (79 off 45), and Shafali Verma (48 off 29).

A stellar 22-ball-49 from wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh rescued India from a slight middle-overs wobble as Sri Lanka pulled some control back. Chamudi Prabodha, Kavisha Dilhari and Sugandika Kumari took a wicket apiece.

Sri Lanka rolled over for 69 runs, with only three batters including captain Chamari Athapaththu reaching double figures.

Deepti Sharma took three wickets for her extremely miserly spell in which she conceded just six runs in her four overs, which included a maiden. Shafali accounted for the first two wickets, and bowled at an economy rate equal to Deepti’s, conceding just three runs across the two overs she bowled.

Shree Charani and Shreyanka Patil took two wickets apiece, with the latter dismissing Kaushini Nuthyangana to seal the win, completing India’s successful defense of their 2023 gold won in Hangzhou.

Sri Lanka settled for silver to complete the podium.

In a statement, the spokesperson said the NCCIA’s Islamabad unit had launched a major crackdown on illegal call centres as part of efforts to curb organised cyber fraud.

“Raids were conducted on 3 call centres established in Sectors E-11 and G-10, resulting in a total of 212 individuals being taken into custody,” according to the spokesperson.

He added that the detainees included Chinese and Pakistani men and women.

“During the operations, 306 mobile phones, 383 computers/CPUs and 299 monitors and laptops were recovered,” he said.

The spokesperson said the suspects were allegedly involved in international fraud through Google scams and “low-dating” schemes, adding that the network was found to be linked to India and Brazil.

A case had been registered and an investigation was underway, he said.

Last week, the NCCIA arrested 27 suspects, including four Afghan nationals, during a major operation in Karachi, busting an international scam call centre.

Initial investigations had revealed that the suspects posed as “authorised representatives of financial institutions and contacted foreign nationals through spoofed and fraudulent calls to obtain their personal and financial information.”

In August, the NCCIA arrested 114 foreign nationals, including 111 Chinese and three Vietnamese citizens, for allegedly running a cyber-romance and sextortion network from a registered IT business in the capital.

The network was allegedly involved in luring foreign nationals into online sexual conversations, including video chats and explicit video calls, and subsequently exploiting the material for criminal and financial purposes.

The court also issued notices on a separate petition against Adiala jail authorities for allegedly failing to facilitate the signing of the documents.

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra directed the relevant authorities to respond to the application concerning the powers of attorney.

During the proceedings, lawyers representing Imaan and Chattha told the court that efforts had been made to obtain the required signatures from the detained lawyers, but the jail authorities had not facilitated the process.

Advocate Zainab Janjua said she had made efforts on Friday and Saturday and had also met officials at Adiala jail. However, the authorities maintained that the powers of attorney had to be processed through the official procedure, she said.

She argued that both lawyers were in the custody of the court and had a fundamental right to engage legal counsel.

Judge Sipra then inquired whether the powers of attorney had been attested. Advocate Asif Tamboli pointed out that Imaan’s mother, Dr Shireen Mazari, was present in the courtroom and could verify the relevant details.

The judge observed that a bail petition could not be accepted without the required signatures, to which Tamboli suggested that the court retain the powers of attorney and arrange for their verification personally.

Judge Sipra remarked that rules and regulations were often set aside when lawyers were involved, adding that he would find a way to resolve the matter. He said jail officials would be asked why they were not facilitating the signing of the documents.

The judge also questioned the prosecutor about why the established procedure was not being followed.

At this stage, Imaan’s mother told the court that the two had been arrested from the office of the jail’s deputy superintendent (legal). She alleged that both lawyers had been physically assaulted during their arrest and urged the court to intervene in the matter concerning the signing of their powers of attorney.

The legal team subsequently pursued proceedings against the Adiala jail authorities for allegedly failing to facilitate the signing of the documents.

The court then issued notices to the jail officials on the petition, seeking their response.

Imaan and Hadi were sentenced in January to 17 years on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) in the controversial social media posts case.

Last week, the Supreme Court had suspended their sentences and ordered their release on bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000 each. The SC ordered the couple’s release on bail pending the Islamabad High Court’s final verdict on their appeals against the trial court’s decision.

However, the reprieve was short-lived as hours later, Islamabad police arrested the couple again in connection with another case and produced them before an ATC, which sent them to jail on judicial remand.

The fresh case in which the two were arrested was registered at the federal capital’s Kohsar police station on March 22 last year on the complaint of City Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Chandio.

Imaan and her husband were accused of chanting anti-government slogans and blocking roads and were nominated by name in the first information report. However, at the time of registration of the case, no section of the Anti-Terrorism Act had been added.

The fresh arrest was widely condemned by journalists and lawyers, who had termed the development a “mockery of justice”.

The petition was filed on Tuesday, a day after the minister and two other men with him were allegedly abducted by unidentified armed men near Peshawar’s M-1 toll plaza.

A case has also been filed at the Chamkani police station on kidnapping charges. Both the petition and the first information report (FIR) were filed on the complaint of the minister’s brother, retired Major Anwar Aziz.

The FIR, dated Sept 21 and seen by Dawn, alleged that Fazal, his driver Qaiser Khan and Constable Mujahid were abducted by unidentified armed men near Peshawar’s M-1 toll plaza on Monday afternoon.

The plea, filed through advocate Bashir Khan Wazir, requested the PHC to direct the police and other law enforcement agencies to recover the minister, whose whereabouts remain unknown to his family.

It also sought directions to the KP inspector general (IG) and the capital city police officer (CCPO) to constitute a high-level inquiry committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident and take steps to recover Fazal.

The KP IG, CCPO, the Peshawar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Operations, and other relevant authorities have been made respondents in the petition.

It claimed that armed men in plain clothes intercepted his vehicle near the Peshawar Motorway Toll Plaza and fired at its tyres. It further alleged that the armed men then forced the provincial minister out of his vehicle and took him away.

The plea described the alleged abduction of the provincial minister in broad daylight as a matter of serious concern and requested the PHC to order his recovery.

The petitioner maintained that if the missing minister was in the custody of any state institution or other authority, he should be produced before the court and released if his detention was found to be unlawful.

The petition is fixed for hearing on Sept 23 (Wednesday) before a division bench comprising Senior Puisne Judge Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel.

FIR and protest

The FIR invoked Section 365 (kidnapping or abduction) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

According to the complaint, Fazal and the others were travelling from Charsadda to Peshawar to attend a KP Assembly session when they were intercepted by armed men in “black uniforms and plain clothes”.

They were taken to an undisclosed location, while the official vehicle they were travelling in was left at the spot, the FIR added.

A video shared by the PTI showed several masked armed men approaching the minister’s car. In the video, one of the masked men grabs the door of the car to open it while another is seen firing shots at the tyres of the moving vehicle.

The PTI had also announced a protest demonstration against the alleged abduction at Farooq Azam Chowk at 4pm on Tuesday.

Speaking to Dawn, PTI Charsadda president and MPA Arshad Umarzai said the party would announce its future course of action at the protest.

Strongly condemning Fazal’s “arrest”, he described it as a failure of the provincial government.

In a statement posted on X, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan termed the “picking up” of Fazal a “direct attack on the Constitution, law, democracy and public mandate”.

“We will not be intimidated by such tactics. Snatching away the right to peaceful political struggle is the height of fascism, but we will continue to fight for our rights while remaining within the bounds of the Constitution and law,” he said.