LAHORE: Captain Shakib Al Hasan was spot on right from the start and took the catch to send Rashid Khan back to the pavilion to revive Bangladesh’s fortunes in the Asia Cup on Sunday.

Having lost their opening Group ‘B’ match to hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh looked a different team against Afghanistan in all departments in intense heat here at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Shakib’s correct call at the toss enabled his team post a massive 334 for five which proved too much for Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men who succumbed to an 89-run defeat. While the result revived Bangladesh’s chances to qualify for the Super Four stage, Afghanistan now find themselves at the brink of exit and face a do-or-die game against Sri Lanka at the same venue on Tuesday. In case Afghanistan upset Sri Lanka, net run-rate will decide the top Group ‘B’ sides who will advance to Super Four.

Chasing the mounting target, Afghanistan never posed a serious threat for Bangladesh, especially after losing belligerent opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (one) in the second over. He was trapped in front by pacer Shoriful Islam.

In-form opener Ibrahim Zadran (75 off 74 balls) with Rahmat Shah (33 off 57) added 78 runs for the second-wicket stand before fast bowler Taskin Ahmed cleaned up Rahmat in the 18th over.

Ibrahim completed his ODI fourth half-century off 52 balls as Afghanistan reached 100 in 23.2 overs.

By the end of 25th over, Afghanistan were 110-2 as the required run-rate climbed to nine.

Ibrahim with Hashmatullah (51 off 60) steered Afghanistan to 131-3 in the 28th over before the former was dismissed, caught brilliantly by wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim off fast bowler Hasan Mahmud. Ibrahim struck ten fours and one six.

Hashmatullah and Najibullah Zadran (17) took their team to 193 before the latter was bowled by spinner Mehidy in the 37th over. Hashmatullah soon departed as Afghanistan started crumbling. After some late fireworks from Rashid Khan (24 off 25) they were eventually dismissed for 245 in 44.3 overs.

Taskin claimed four wickets for 44, including the important scalp of Mohammad Nabi (three) while his pace partner Shoriful picked up three for 36.

Earlier, aggressive centuries from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto steered Bangladesh to a huge total on a perfect batting track.

Mehidy and fellow opener Mohammad Naim (28 off 32) provided their team a quick start of 60 in ten overs before two quick wickets fell.

Naim was cleaned up by spinner Mujeeb Ur Rehman while Tohid Hridoy (0) was dismissed by medium pacer Gulbadin Naib when Hashmatullah took an excellent catch in the slip.

It was the last wicket that went to any bowler as the next three Bangladesh wickets to fall – Najmul (104), Mushfiqur (25 off 15) and Shamim Hossain (11 off six) -- were all run-outs.

After coming together with Bangladesh at 63-2 in the 11th over, makeshift opener Mehidy and Najmul took charge to maul the Afghan bowlers to steer their team to 257 in the third-wicket partnership which proved the pivot of the entire innings.

The marathon 194-run partnership ended when Mehidy was retired hurt due to cramps after scoring his second ODI century.

Left-handed Najmul also struck his second century smashing nine fours and two sixes during the impressive innings.

For Afghanistan, only Mujeeb (one for 62) and Gulbadin (one for 58) were the wicket-takers while Rashid, Nabi, Fazlhaq Farooqi all proved costly.

SCOREBOARD

BANGLADESH:

Mohammad Naim b Mujeeb 28

Mehidy Hasan Retired Hurt 112

Towhid Hridoy c Ibrahim b Naib 0

Najmul Hossain run out Najibullah 104

Mushfiqur Rahim run out 25

Shakib Al Hasan not out 32

Shamim Hossain run out 11

Afif Hossain not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-12) 18

TOTAL (for five wickets, 50 overs) 334

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-60 (Naim), 2-63 (Towhid), 3-278 (Najmul), 4-294 (Mushfiqur), 5-324 (Shamim)

DID NOT BAT: Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud

BOWLING: Farooqi 6-1-53-0 (1w), Mujeeb 10-0-62-1 (2w), Naib 8-0-58-1, Janat 6-0-39-0 (1w), Nabi 10-0-50-0, Rashid 10-1-66-0

AFGHANISTAN:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw Shoriful 1

Ibrahim Zadran c Mushfiqur b Hasan 75

Rahmat Shah b Taskin 33

Hashmatullah Shahidi c Hasan b Shoriful 51

Najibullah Zadran b Mehidy 17

Mohammad Nabi c Afif b Taskin 3

Gulbadin Naib b Shoriful 15

Karim Janat run out 1

Rashid Khan c Shakib b Taskin 24

Mujeeb Ur Rahman hit wicket b Taskin 4

Fazalhaq Farooqi not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-17) 20

TOTAL (all out, 44.3 overs) 245

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Gurbaz), 2-79 (Rahmat), 3-131 (Ibrahim), 4-193 (Najibullah), 5-196 (Shahidi), 6-212 (Naib), 7-214 (Nabi), 8-221 (Janat), 9-244 (Mujeeb)

BOWLING: Taskin 8.3-0-44-4 (3w), Shoriful 9-1-36-3 (5w), Hasan 9-1-61-1 (1w), Shakib 8-0-44-0 (1w), Afif 1-0-6-0, Mehidy 8-0-41-1 (2w), Shamim 1-0-10-0

RESULT: Bangladesh won by 89 runs.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2023