||Desk Report||

Bangladesh are facing Afghanistan in the last Group B clash of the Asia Cup, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The Tigers have handed ODI debuts to Nazmul Hossain and Abu Hider while Mominul Haque has returned to the ODI squad after more than three years.

Winning the toss, Afghanistan decided to bat first. Hider didn’t need more than four deliveries to get his first ODI wicket as he dismissed Ihsanullah Janat in the second over to give Bangladesh a flying start. He struck again a short while later to dismiss Rahmat Shah.

However, Mohammad Shehzad and Hasmatullah Shahidi somewhat helped their side recover from the shaky start and put up a fine 51-run partnership. Shahidi went on to pick up his half-century, but Shakib Al Hasan did not let the other batters settle down at the opposite end. He bagged three wickets including that of Shehzad, before Rubel Hossain finally sent Shahidi back to the hut.

Shakib then took his tally to four wickets by dismissing Mohammad Nabi.

Losing their seventh wicket for 160 runs at the early stage of the slog overs, it looked like Afghanistan would have to tolerate much hardship to lift the total past 200 runs. Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan, however, did not let that happen and shared a crucial 95-run partnership off 55 deliveries.

Naib made 42 runs and remained not-out while Rashid played a magnificent 31-ball innings of 53 runs.

Bangladesh surely did not anticipate this attack from Rashid Khan with the bat. Now it will be interesting to see how they tackle his legspin-bowling brilliance, which has made them suffer on various occasions.

 

Score

AFG - 155/7 (50 Overs)