Bangladesh made an exceptional comeback after a defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka last week, thanks to a stellar batting display by Mehidy Hasan and Najmul Shanto powering them to a mammoth total. The lethal Afghan spin attack was taken to tatters by Mehidy Hasan & Najmul Shanto batters who were backed by their pacers who kept Afghanistan in check and bowled them out inside 50 overs.
The win by 89 runs helped Bangladesh secure a place in the Super 4 of the Asia Cup 2023, as they now have a superior run rate. After winning the toss, Bangladesh decided to bat on a hot day in Lahore. The openers Mehidy Hasan & Muhammed Naim seemed to take their team through the powerplay without any losses until Muhammed Naim was castled by a flipper from Mujib Ur Rehman.
Towhid Hridoy followed suit and departed without troubling the scorers. This brought in-form Najmul Shanto into the crease, along with Mehidy Hasan, who was promoted up as an opener and stitched a partnership of 194 runs off just 190 balls.
Some ordinary bowling from the Afghans coupled with exquisite strokeplay from Shanto and Hasan put Bangladesh in the driving seat. Mehidy Hasan got into his hundred but soon had to retired hurt after cramping his left arm. Najmul Shanto continued the scoring and also got to his hundred, continuing his top form in the tournament.
After Shanto’s dismissal thanks to an unlucky runout, cameos from veterans Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan made sure that Bangladesh crossed the 300 mark. They finished off at 334-5 at the end of 50 overs, leaving the work cut out for their bowlers.
Afghanistan’s Reply
In reply, Afghanistan lost their opener Gurbaz in the second over soon after which the scoring rate became sluggish. Disciplined bowling from the Bangladesh bowlers and lack of intent from the side of Afghan batters meant that they were well behind the asking rate throughout their innings. Ibrahim Zadran put up a fight scoring a 75 off 74 deliveries, however, his stint in the crease was cut short by a breathtaking catch from Mushfiqur Rahim.
Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi continued the fight by stitching a 62-run partnership with Najibullah Zadran but after his dismissal, the Afghan chase lost its way, with Taskin Ahmed wiping off the tail ending their innings at 245.
We played really well all-round, it was a good toss to win – Shakib Al Hasan
During the post match presentation, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was pleased with the all-round performance of his team and said that the toss was crucial. He praised the batting duo of Mehidy Hasan and Najmul Shanto for setting up the game for the team, while also acknowledging the crucial moral booster this performance would provide to his fast bowlers.
” 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,” said Shakib Al Hasan.
“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” he added.