Afghanistan showcased all-round performance to beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in their second clash of the Asia Cup 2022 in Sharjah on Tuesday. With this win, Mohammad Nabi-led side tops the group B and qualify for Super Fours of the tournament.
With their back-to-back wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Afghanistan became the first team to make it to the next round of the tournament.
Chasing 128 to win, Afghanistan found themselves in little trouble with Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mohammad Nabi departing at crucial stages, but Ibrahim Zadran, who scored unbeaten 42 off 41 balls and Najibullah Zadran, who smashed 43 runs off just 17 deliveries, which included six 6s and a 4, helped their team cross the finishing line in 18.3 overs.
Apart from Najibullah and Ibrahim, Hazratullah Zazai also played a crucial knock (23 off 26)
Earlier, after winning the toss and opting to bat first, Bangladesh batters couldn’t get going for the most part of the innings on a dusty pitch, which had a fair amount of grip and turns.
The Afghanistan spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/16) and Rashid Khan (3/22) bowled tight length and lines and spun their webs in the powerplay and in the middle-overs respectively.
When Mahmudullah (25 off 27) got out in the 15.4 overs, Bangladesh were 89-6 and it looked like they’d even fold for under 100. However, Mosaddek Hossain’s 31-ball 48, and Mehidy Hasan’s 12-ball 14 helped Bangladesh in some form of recovery and led them to a respectable total of 127/7 in 20 overs.
We now take a look at some of the stats from the game:
1) Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan bagged three wickets against Bangladesh to become the second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is. Rashid has so far bagged 115 wickets in T20Is at an average of 13.73. He surpassed New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, who has 114 wickets under his belt. The wrist spinner is only behind Shakib Al Hasan, who has so far picked 122 T20I wickets in his career.
2) Rashid Khan also extended his lead at the top of the list of bowlers with most wickets in Afghanistan – Bangladesh T20I matches. The spinner has bagged 17 wickets in eight T20I matches between the two nations.
3) Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan played his 100th T20I match on Tuesday. In 100 matches now, Hasan has scored 2,018 runs at an average of 22.67. He has scored ten half-centuries in the shortest format, with 84 being his best score. Hasan also has 122 wickets in 100 games and is the leading wicket-taker in the format’s history.
4) Mahmudullah leads the tally of most runs scored in Afghanistan – Bangladesh T20I matches. The 36-year-old Bangladesh all-rounder has scored 194 runs in T20Is against Afghanistan.
5) This is Afghanistan’s sixth win against Bangladesh in the 10 T20Is that they have played.