Watch: Afghanistan’s dressing room celebrations after team enters Asia Cup Super-4

Afghanistan showcased their dominance on Tuesday night and became the first team to enter into the Super-four of the ongoing Asia Cup. After demolishing host Sri Lanka in their tournament opener, the Mohammad Nabi-led side outclassed Bangladesh with a commendable all-round performance yesterday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Since their Asia Cup debut in 2014, this is the second time that they have grabbed the top four spot. In 2018, Afghanistan finished the campaign in fourth place with India lifting the trophy and Bangladesh becoming the runners-up.

To mark the feat, the Afghanistan Cricket Board shared some glimpses of the victorious celebration from Sharjah on their official Twitter handle. The caption of the post highlights Tuesday night’s “winning moments.” Afghanistan required 128 runs to win and they got the job done in the 18th over itself. Their star batter Najibullah Zadran was on strike and had shouldered the responsibility to take the side home.

Zadran was well-settled at the crease and also in a mood to make the ending more special. He whacked a straight and flat six into the crowd. The entire Afghanistan dressing room burst into emphatic celebrations. The facial expressions of the fans and players showed their happiness at this victory. All-rounder Rashid Khan had the biggest smile on his face.

Fans were left overjoyed on witnessing ACB’s Twitter video. They flooded the comments section with a lot of appreciative messages for the young Afghan brigade. To no surprise, the clip has seen more than 3,000 viewers so far.

A countryman expressed his immense love for the side.

A fan wished luck for Afghanistan’s upcoming challenges and wrote, “Good luck, boys.”

Another person lauded the exceptional team effort by saying, “Well done guys.”

Several users left congratulatory messages for Afghanistan. Check some of them here:

Batting first, Bangladesh put up a mere target of 128 runs in front of Afghanistan. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman delivered commendable spells and picked up three wickets each. In reply, the Afghan openers failed to stay longer on the pitch. However, the Zadran-pair (Ibrahim and Najibullah) took charge and steered them across the victory line. Ibrahim remained unbeaten at a 41-ball 42. Najibullah, who also remained unbeaten, went hard on Bangladesh bowlers, smashing 43 runs in just 17 deliveries. The Asia Cup Super-4 battles are slated to start from 3 September.