Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets
The left hander Najibullah Zadran scored 43 in just 17 balls with a boundary and 6 sixes while Ibrahim Zadran made a good supporting role scoring 42 in 41 balls with 4 fours added a remarkable 4th wicket unbeaten 69 runs partnership in 5.3 overs as Afghanistan recorded 7 wickets win over Bangladesh in their Asia Cup cricket fixture played at Sharjah International cricket Stadium yesterday.
Afghanistan led by Mohammad Nabi recorded back to back wins to finished first at the group to enter super four stage first while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are fighting to finish second place to qualify super four as two teams will battle it out each other tomorrow (1) at the Dubai International cricket stadium.
Afghanistan chasing a target of 128 runs were made it easy with 9 balls to spare while Najibullah and Ibrahim domineted the innings at the Sharjah Stadium. Mujeeb Ul Rahman who took 3 for 16 was adjudged Player of the Match.
Earlier Bangladesh choose to bat first to build up a challenging total but their top order collapsed while their plan was not worked as their expectations. They finally had to be satisfied with 127 for 7 wickets in their 20 overs.
Afganisthan off spinner Majeeb Ur Rahman and experienced leg spinner Rashid Khan were able to bowl very tidy spells to put more pressure. In fact Bangladesh top order batters were failed to impress and were under pressure from the biginning.
Bangladesh openers Mohammad Naif (6) and Anamul Haque (5) were back to the pavilion very early while Majeeb made fine spell to take both wickets.
The most experienced batter Skipper Shakib Ul Hasan was Majeeb’s third victim. Shakib gave some room to hit the ball and final result was clean bowled off Majeeb at the last over of the power play.
The most experienced leggie Rashid Khan came as the fourth bowler while he was able to get middle order batters under more pressure.
Mahamudullah hit 25 in 27 balls with a four while number seven batter Mossadek Hossain was the only successful batter scoring an unbeaten 48 in 31 balls with 4 fours and a six. Mehedi Hasan made 14 in 12 balls to reach 127 for 7 with a run rate of 6.35 after their 20 overs.
Two spinners Majeeb Ur Rahman 3 for 16 in four overs spell while Rashid Khan finished with 3 for 22 taking bowling honours for Afghanistan.
India will meet Hong Kong the qualifier of this tournament today (31) at the Dubai International cricket stadium while the deciding game for Sri Lanka will meet Bangladesh tomorrow (Sept 1) at the same venue in Dubai .
Chief scores
Bangladesh 127 for 7 wickets in 20 overs (Shakib Ul Hasan 11, Afif Hossain 12, Mahmudullah 25, Mossadek Hossain 48*, Mehedi Hasan 12, Majeeb Ur Rahman 3/26, Rashid Khan 3/22)
Afghanistan 131 for 3 wickets in 18.3 overs (Hazrathullah Zazai 23, Rahmanulla Gurbaz 11, Ibrahim Zadran 42*, Najibullah Zadran 43*).