For the first time, Bangladesh managed to beat Afghanistan in a T20 match outside the country, keeping alive their hopes of advancing to the next stage of the Asia Cup.
“On an outside-off full-length delivery, Rashid Khan went for a shot but edged it to short third man. Fielder Taskin Ahmed took the catch and let out a roar. Liton Das broke into a broad smile. Rashid, in despair, looked up at the sky. With the captain’s dismissal, Afghanistan’s last hope was gone — and Bangladesh’s victory was virtually sealed there.”
Bangladesh had no choice but to win that day. Even after their batting innings ended, doubts remained. But with brilliant bowling and fielding, Liton Kumar Das’ team clinched an 8-run win to stay alive in the Asia Cup.
Incredibly, this was Bangladesh’s first-ever T20 victory over Afghanistan away from home, achieved on their sixth attempt.
Yet, the win wasn’t without some unease. After the match was almost decided, two late sixes from Noor Ahmad off Taskin’s final over might have complicated the net run rate equation for Bangladesh.
Now Liton has to wait for the Sri Lanka–Afghanistan match. If Sri Lanka win, Bangladesh will go through to the Super Four without any calculations. If Afghanistan win, Bangladesh’s hopes stay alive — but only if Sri Lanka lose by a huge margin.
Before considering net run rate, the win was the priority. Bangladesh scored 154 in 20 overs. In reply, Afghanistan were bowled out for 146 on the final ball.
Bangladesh got off to a strong start with their new opening pair, though in contrasting styles. Saif Hassan’s innings was scratchy, but he survived the powerplay and played a few good shots. Tanzid, on the other hand, was explosive. Together, they put on 63 runs for the opening stand.
In the first over, Saif survived on 0 thanks to Fazalhaq Farooqi’s swing. Tanzid too offered a chance, but it raced between the keeper and slip for four. That over saw four boundaries from Tanzid’s bat.
Saif lifted A M Ghazanfar over his head, while Tanzid twice launched the mystery spinner into the stands. Bangladesh recorded their first 50-run opening stand in 11 matches, scoring 59 in the powerplay.
Rashid Khan broke the stand as Saif (30 off 28) lost patience and was bowled trying a slog.
Liton Das tried to settle in. In the 10th over, Bangladesh were in a strong position at the drinks break thanks to Tanzid’s six off Mohammad Nabi’s bowling.
But the rhythm broke right after. On the first ball after the break, Mohammad Noor removed Liton (9 off 11). Tanzid, who had reached his fifty off 28 balls, fell in the left-arm wrist-spinner’s next over.
Towhid Hridoy began well, sweeping Noor for a six and running brilliantly between the wickets.
But Bangladesh’s innings gradually slowed. After hitting two boundaries in Rashid’s over, Shamim Hossain (11 off 11) fell to the Afghan captain. Hridoy too (26 off 20) couldn’t accelerate late on.
Zaker Ali hit Noor for four soon after arriving but struggled afterward, repeatedly failing to connect while trying to pull to the leg side. In the 19th over, he couldn’t score off three consecutive balls, eventually finishing unbeaten on 13 off 12.
Some late hitting from Nurul Hasan Sohan (12 off 6) with two boundaries helped Bangladesh cross 150, but they managed only 35 runs in the last five overs.
Bangladesh needed a good start with the ball — and Nasum delivered exactly that. On the first ball of the innings, he trapped Sediqullah Atal lbw. Soon after, he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran (5 off 12) the same way.
Afghanistan limped to just 27 runs in the powerplay for the loss of two wickets. Rishad Hossain then broke the stand by taking a return catch off Gulbadin Naib (16 off 14).
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was still fighting at the top, hitting two sixes off Shamim and Saif. But before he could become dangerous, Rishad sent him back for 35 off 31.
Mustafizur returned for his second spell to end Nabi’s resistance (15 off 15), putting Bangladesh firmly in control.
Azmatullah Omarzai had other ideas, smashing 20 runs in an over off part-time spinner Saif.
(Detailed report coming soon)
Brief scores
- Bangladesh: 154/5 in 20 overs (Saif 30, Tanzid 52, Liton 9, Hridoy 26, Shamim 11, Zaker 12*, Sohan 12*; Farooqi 4-0-37-0, Omarzai 3-0-19-1, Ghazanfar 3-0-32-0, Rashid 4-0-26-2, Nabi 2-0-17-0, Noor 4-0-23-2).
- Afghanistan: 146 all out in 20 overs (Atal 0, Gurbaz 35, Ibrahim 5, Naib 13, Nabi 15, Omarzai 30, Janat 6, Rashid 20, Noor 14, Ghazanfar 0, Farooqi 2*; Nasum 4-1-11-2, Taskin , Mustafizur 4-0-28-3, Rishad 4-0-18-2, Shamim 1-0-16-0, Saif 3-0-39-0).
Result: Bangladesh won by 8 runs.
Player of the Match: Nasum Ahmed.
