Bangladesh's bid to reclaim Asian Games cricket gold ended in Nishin on Thursday, beaten by six wickets in a rain-reduced 13-over semi-final that sent Pakistan into the men's final for the first time in the tournament's history.

The contest turned in one costly over from Mustafizur Rahman, who leaked 23 runs as Hasan Nawaz and Abdul Samad took the chase away from Bangladesh, the senior pacer eventually finishing with figures of 41 from his two overs.

Pakistan had been unsettled early, losing both openers inside two overs before Saim Ayub counter-attacked with 21 off 12 balls, including two sixes off Mustafiz, steadying the innings before Usman Khan also fell to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.

Samad and Nawaz then added an unbroken 59 from 32 balls to seal victory with nine balls remaining, finishing unbeaten on 30 and 27 respectively as Pakistan chased down Bangladesh's total of 111 for seven with relative ease in the end.

Towhid Hridoy had rescued Bangladesh's innings almost single handedly, striking 42 off 25 balls with four sixes after the top order collapsed to 21 for three inside the powerplay, with Saif Hasan's 19 the only other score of note.

Left-arm spinners Arafat Minhas and Sufiyan Muqeem shared six wickets between them, exploiting turn and uneven bounce at Korogi Sports Park to restrict Bangladesh, who still managed 50 runs in the final four overs thanks largely to Hridoy's late assault.

Bangladesh will now contest Saturday's bronze medal match against the losing semi-finalist from the India versus Sri Lanka clash, having reached the last four without playing a ball in the quarter-final after their fixture against Malaysia was washed out.

Pakistan await the winner of that second semi-final in Saturday's gold medal match, a first appearance in an Asian Games cricket final. It also completes a double over Bangladesh, after Pakistan beat their women's team by 31 runs in the bronze medal match.