||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. Two crucial innings of 70-odd runs from each of Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah Riyad helped the Tigers put 249 runs despite losing five wickets before crossing the 100-run mark following a string of blunder from the batters.

In reply, Afghanistan, too, followed Bangladesh’s footsteps and lost two wickets in the batting powerplay. Both Ihsanullah Janat (8) and Rehmatullah Shah (1) fell cheaply, giving Bangladesh an early breakthrough.

Mohmmad Shahzad and Hasmatullah Shahihidi then restored the innings with a 63-run stand, with the former picking up a half-century. Just when the regular spinners could do nothing more than just restricting the flow of runs, Mahmudullah came into the attack and removed Shahzad to help the Tigers return to the fray.

Following Shahzad’s departure, Shahidi picked up his fifty and stitched another crucial 78-run partnership with skipper Asghar Afghan. Mashrafe removed Afghan for 39 runs and later went on to dismiss Shahidi for 71 runs, before the batsman could form another effective stand.

With these two wickets, the Bangladesh captain has reached 250 scalps in his 194-match-long ODI career. He is the first Bangladeshi and 25^th overall bowler in ODI cricket to have taken as many wickets.

 

Score

BAN - 249/7 (50 Overs)