First with the ball and later with the bat Mehidy Hasan Miraz took his team to their first win in this World Cup. Bangladesh won the match by defeating Afghanistan by 6 wickets.
Afghanistan scored 156/10 in 37.2 overs which Bangladesh chased down in 34.4 overs and scored 158/4.
It was also Afghanistan’s 13th consecutive defeat in the World Cup which starts from 2015.
After winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to field first.
The Afghans got a good start as they put 47 runs for the first wicket. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (47 runs) was the highest scorer from the side with 4 fours and a six. Ibrahim Zadran (22 runs) played some good shots in the start but unfortunately he couldn’t convert it into a big one.
The last 7 wickets fell by adding just 44 runs. Unfortunately they missed a big total and scored 156 runs in 37.2 overs by losing all the wickets.
The spinners of the Bengal Tigers were not only credited with wickets but also being economical. Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled a terrific spell and took 3 wickets by giving away only 25 runs in his 9 overs and also got three maiden overs. Shakib Al Hasan the skipper also performed well and grabbed 3 important wickets. Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman took 1 wicket each.
Bengal Tigers also struggled a little bit in the start as they lost 2 wickets early on when the score was only 27. After that Mehidy Hasan Miraz (57 runs) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (59 runs) built a 97 runs partnership which eventually took the match from their opposition. Miraz hit 5 fours in his knock whereas Shanto hit 3 fours and a six in his knock and also remained unbeaten till the end.
In the end with Shanto’s boundary over Naveen-ul-Haq Bangladesh won the match by 6 wickets and chased down the target in 34.4 overs and scored 158 runs by losing 4 wickets.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai took 1 wicket each.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh, Player of the Match
“It’s a great moment for me, I have done a lot of hard work in the past. Credit to the team management because they believed in me. I was a bit cautious, the captain told me to bowl in the right areas. He told me to be consistent and to focus on my own performance so credit to the captain. I took it ball by ball, didn’t look at the runs. Wicket was turning a bit, I just tried to play straight.
I have always batted at number 8 so a great moment for me to bat at the top of the order. They tried me at the top of the order in the last few matches and it’s a great moment for me.”