Bangladesh will take on India, who ousted Maldives 1-0 in the first semifinal earlier in the day, in the December 17 final.

It was Arman and Titu's dazzling combination that earned Bangladesh the penalty on the stroke of the short whistle. Taking a crisp pass from Arman, Titu dribbled past Abdul Aziz but the overlapping left fullback was tripped by the Pakistani midfielder inside the danger zone.

Sujan, the regular penalty-taker of Team Bangladesh who also scored the last penalty in Bangladesh's 5-3 defeat of Maldives in tiebreaker in the 2003 SAFF Championship final in Dhaka, effortlessly put a low drive from the spot into the rival keeper's right to silence the 15,000-strong home crowd at the People's Sports Complex Stadium.

After a cautious start, Bangladesh began to play their normal game, stringing their attacks with lively and numerous short-passes. But striking duo Kanchan and Farhad failed to challenge the tightest defence of the tournament -- which had not conceded a single goal before the semifinal -- led by Pakistan's Birmingham-based towering centre-back Zesh Rehman.

Alfaz mishit three long-range efforts but Bangladesh came alive in the 28th minute when Matiur Munna unleashed a left-footer from 30 yards to force a fine save by Zaffar Ahmed. A minute later, the Pakistani goalkeeper gripped Farhad's glancing header on a Titu centre from left on the line.

The home side hit back with quick counterattacks but inspired defending by Hassan Al Mamun inside the box defied Mohammad Essa a clean hit in the 32nd minute. Bangladesh spent some more nervous moments when Zesh's header on a corner deflected off a defensive wall before Abdul Aziz's scorching drive from 20 yards skimmed the crossbar.

After the break, Pakistan's long-ball strategy was expertly tackled by Bangladesh stoppers Sujan and Rajani's superb head-work, inspiring counter attacks at regular intervals.

Just before the hour, a through by Essa split the Bangladesh defence to find Farooq but the tiny midfielder's placing shot from handshaking distance was parried by an outrushing Aminul for a corner.

Afterwards, the Bangladeshi expatriates who were holding aloft a giant-size 'Red and Green' flag under the full moon that hung over the adjacent Lyari Town, kept cheering on the visitors who at one stage played passes among themselves nearly for four minutes, earning instant applauds from the opposition crowd too.

A desperate Pakistan pressed hard for the equaliser but hardly got inside the Bangladesh penalty area before the final whistle.

Yellow cards: Arman, Hassan Al Mamun (Bangladesh) and Zahid (Pakistan)

TEAMS
BANGLADESH: Aminul, Hassan Al Mamun, Sujan, Rajani, Titu (Parvez Babu, 72nd minute), Arman, Joy, Alfaz (Ujjal, 80th), Kanchan (Emily, 88th) and Farhad.

PAKISTAN: Jaffar, Akram, Zeshan, Tanveer, Imran, Farooq, Zahid, Adeel, Niazi (Saeed, 83rd) Aziz (Arif, 68th) and Essa.

Referee: Ashfarian Khodadad.