Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto, centuries put Bangladesh in a strong position and later defeated Afghanistan by 89 runs. Bangladesh scored 334/5 in 50 overs and Afghanistan made 245/10 in 44.3 overs.
Bangladesh already lost their 1st match against the injured Sri Lankans and it was their last chance to keep their chances alive in the Super Four of the Asia Cup.
After winning the toss Shakib Al Hasan opted to bat first.
Bengal Tigers were looking in little trouble as they lost two wickets in 11 overs at the score of 63. But after that Shanto (104 runs) and Miraz (112 runs) provided solid knocks and put their team in a comfortable position. Both of them put together 215 runs for the 3rd wicket. Shanto hit 9 fours and 2 sixes whereas Miraz hit 7 fours and 3 sixes. Miraz unfortunately got retired out as he was having some problem with his legs.
In the end Shakib (32 runs) shows some rocket fire in the ground and gets the score 300 par easily. Mushfiqur Rahim (25 runs) also supported him pretty well. Therefore in 50 overs they put up a huge score of 334 runs against their opponents with the loss of 5 wickets.
Afghanistan bowling line up failed miserably due to which their opponents got so many runs. Only Mujeeb ur Rahman and Gulabdin Naib got 1 wicket each.
Afghanistan started well but they do not capitalize it well and go much further. Ibrahim Zadran (75 runs) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (51 runs) showed full potential against the Bangladeshi bowlers but unfortunately the increase in the asking run rate put them in a fix.
Rashid Khan (24 runs) tried to change the fate but it was too late to do so. Therefore they got all out in 44.3 overs and scored 245 runs.
Taskin Ahmed again showed his experience and grabbed 4 wickets while Shoriful Islam got 3 wickets. Hasan Mahmud and Mehidy Hasan Miraz get 1 wicket each.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh, Player of the Match
“Really happy. The team management believed in me so I played well today. It was a good wicket, the ball was coming well on to the bat nicely. It was an excellent partnership between Shanto and I. He has played well in back to back games. We rotated the strike nicely. When the conditions are hot you tend to cramp up, like I did today.”
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan Captain
“I thought the target was chaseable. The outfield was quick and the target was chaseable, but we lost wickets. Their bowlers were good in the beginning, and our run rate was really low, that’s why we couldn’t win.
We need to improve in all the departments. Today our bowling was not good enough, neither was our fielding. Lahore is near our country, so the fans were waiting for this game. Hopefully they will come and support us again in the next game.”
Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh Captain
“We played really well all round. It was a good toss to win. It wasn’t easy to play in the heat. Mehidy and Shanto played really well and they set it up for us. We knew Mehidy had the ability and he has a good record against Afghanistan. The fast bowlers have been bowling really well.
This win will give them a lot of confidence. We tried our best in this game, maybe not in the first game, but we gave our best in this one.”