With their back-to-back wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Afghanistan became the first team to make it to the Super Fours.
(Picture Credits - IANS)
A disciplined bowling performance followed by a clinical batting effort helped Afghanistan thrash Bangladesh by seven wickets in a Group B match and qualify for the Super Fours of the Asia Cup 2022 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.
With their back-to-back wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Afghanistan became the first team to make it to the Super Fours.
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After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Bangladesh batters couldn’t get going for most part of the innings on a dusty pitch, which had a fair amount of grip and turns.
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The Afghanistan spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/16) and Rashid Khan (3/22) bowled tight length and lines and spun their webs in the powerplay and in the middle-overs respectively.
When Mahmudullah (25 off 27) got out in the 15.4 overs, Bangladesh were 89-6 and it looked like they’d even fold for under 100. However, Mosaddek Hossain’s 31-ball 48, and Mehidy Hasan’s 12-ball 14 helped Bangladesh in some form of recovery and led them to a respectable total of 127/7 in 20 overs.
Chasing a respectable target, Najibullah Zadran (43 not out off 17) and Ibrahim Zadran (42 not out off 41) played fantastic knocks and led Afghanistan to a convincing win in 18.3 Overs, with seven wickets in hand.
Apart from Najibullah and Ibrahim, Hazratullah Zazai also played a crucial knock (23 off 26). Mosaddek Hossain (1/12), Shakib Al Hasan (1/13), and Mohammad Saifuddin (1/27) were the wicket-takers for Bangladesh.
(Inputs from IANS)
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