A much-improved Bangladesh pipped Afghanistan by eight runs in a bunch league match to maintain their hopes
of reaching the Asia Cup Tremendous Fours alive right here on Tuesday.
Coming off a six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh wanted a win in opposition to Afghanistan, and so they achieved it with a collective efficiency in an attritional contest whereby fortunes swung from one facet to a different.
On the midway mark, Afghanistan appeared to have the sport of their attain having restricted Bangladesh to 154 for 5, however then they huffed and puffed earlier than getting bowled out for 146 in 20 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai threatened to show the tables along with his 16-ball 30, a knock during which he collected 20 runs off Saif Hassan’s 14th over of the innings to start Afghanistan’s resurrection following a poor begin.
However he perished proper after hitting Taskin Ahmed for a six within the sixteenth over, signalling the top for Afghanistan. The top got here swiftly when Mustafizur Rahman (3/28) eliminated Rashid Khan (20) and AM Ghazanfar (0) in consecutive balls of the penultimate over.
Bangladesh fielded effectively, and extra importantly, dominated each the powerplays which paved the way in which for his or her win, as they first raced to 59 for no loss within the first half and restricted Afghanistan to a poor 27 for 2 within the second.
The tone was set by Nasum Ahmed whose first supply of the innings skidded off the floor and hit Sediqullah Atal in entrance of the pads. The left-arm Bangladesh spinner struck once more within the powerplay when he trapped Ibrahim Zadran (5) leg-before within the fifth over.
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Whereas Rahmanullah Gurbaz did the heavy lifting on the prime, he discovered no assist from the opposite finish, as No. 4 Gulbadin Naib (16) too perished with out making a mark.
The competition additionally marked Bangladesh spinners Nasum (4-1-11-2) and Rishad Hossain (4-0-18-2) outsmarting their Afghan counterparts, skipper Rashid Khan (2/26) and his spin colleague Noor Ahmad (2/23), who had earlier produced spectacular spells to limit their opponent.
Bangladesh have been bolstered by a 31-ball 52 from opener Tanzid Hasan and his 63-run opening stand with Saif Hassan (30), powering the Tigers to 87 for one on the midway mark.
However the two Afghan spinners, effectively backed by Azmatullah Omarzai (3-0-19-1), pulled issues again with their accuracy and variations and put stress again on Bangladesh.
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Bangladesh had picked up the scoring price after a sedate begin when Tanzid acquired 4 boundaries off Fazalhaq Farooqi within the third over, in between surviving a leg-before attraction courtesy umpire’s name.
Two of these fours got here off edges that flew by means of and two have been smacked down the bottom previous mid-on.
Within the subsequent over from AM Ghazanfar, Hassan confirmed intent smashing an enormous six down the bottom but it surely was Tanzid who hit extra spectacular sixes off the Afghan spinner within the sixth over, one which sailed over lengthy on and different that was picked up from his pads over deep sq. leg.
The partnership was damaged by Afghanistan captain Rashid, whose supply saved a little bit low and beat Saif’s sweep to crash into the off-stump.
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Bangladesh have been nonetheless in cruise mode after 10 overs however they may not do a lot within the face of acute stress from the Afghanistan spinners who saved tight strains and denied any room for the batters to release their arms.