||Desk Report||

Bangladesh are facing Afghanistan for the second time in the ongoing Asia Cup. Unlike the previous face-off, this clash will decide which team between the two will stay alive in the tournament, as both of them have been defeated in their respective first Super Four clashes.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi

Losing an early wicket, the Tigers tinkered with their batting line-up. Despite being in the playing eleven, Imrul Kayes did not feature in the top-order of the Tigers and Mohammad Mithun was promoted up the order at number three after opener Nazmul Hossain gave away his wicket to Aftab Alam for 6 runs.

Mithun, too, maintained Bangladesh’s streak of losing a minimum of two wickets in the powerplay in this tournament and was trapped lbw by Mujeeb Ur Rahman for 1 run.

Liton Das tried to weather the storm along with Mushfiqur Rahim until Rashid Khan came into the attack. The ghost of their past failures against the spinner then haunted the pair as Liton gave away his wicket, putting an end to a crucial 63-run partnership. The opener made 41 runs before returning to the pavilion.

Rashid’s presence in the attack put Bangladesh in a chaotic situation, as they lost two more wickets in the spinner’s back-to-back overs, both run-outs. At first, it was Shakib Al Hasan who took off for a suicidal single and got out before opening his account and then it was Mushfiqur Rahim whose blunder at the non-striker’s end cost him his wicket for 33.

With Imrul and Mahmudullah Riyad at the crease, Bangladesh have somewhat recovered from the disaster caused by their batsmen’s mistakes. The duo cannot afford to make any mistake that will affect this partnership, as heading into the slog overs they will need a few wickets intact.

 

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