Sharjah: A well-set Afghanistan beat Bangladesh in the Group B match of the Asia Cup 2022 match with a dominating seven-wicket victory here on Tuesday. With the win, Afghanistan became the first team to enter the Super Four stage of the tournament, IANS reported.
The architects of Afghan's victory were spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, along with furious Najibullah Zadran's unbeaten partnership of 69 off 5.3 overs with Ibrahim Zadran.
Bangladesh chose batting after winning the toss, which seemed to be a mistake later in the first innings. The dusty pitch in Sharjah offered proper grip and turns for the Afghan spinners. Mujeeb Ur Rahman gathered 3 wickets, letting 16 runs, while Rashid Khan also took 3, leaving 22 runs, worked through the powerplay and middle overs.
At 15.4 overs, Bangladesh was at a miserable total of 89 for 6. Later Mosaddek Hossain's 31-ball 48 and Mehidy Hasan's 12-ball 14 give the score a little momentum, taking the total to 127/7 in 20 overs
In the second innings, Afghanistan also struggled after Shakib Al Hasan, playing his 100th T20I, took opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz's wicket. Bangladesh spinners also tried to capitalize on pitch conditions, which gave Afghan space only to score 66 from the first 13 overs and needed 62 from the rest. Also, Zazai and Mohammad Nabi got dismissed in succession, which gave an appearance that Bangladesh had the game.
Thereafter, a couple of boundaries from Ibrahim Zadran ((42 not out off 41) brought the equation down to 52 from the final five overs, which is when Najibullah Zadran (43 not out off 17) took over and stunned the bowling side.
But Najibullah Zardan was there to man the final seven overs. He smashed a 43 not out off 17, hitting six sixes in the final four overs when there were only one six hits in the last 35 overs of the match. Bangladesh pacers lost footing before Najibullah and undone the noble work of their spinners.
Afghanistan amassed 22 runs in the 18th over and sealed the match in 18.3 overs.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 127/7 in 20 overs (Mosaddek Hossain 48 not out, Mahmudullah 25; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/16, Rashid Khan 3/22) lost to Afghanistan 131-3 in 18.3 overs (Najibullah Zadran 43 not out, Ibrahim Zadran 42 not out, Mosaddek Hossain 1/12) by 7 wickets.