A disciplined bowling performance followed by a clinical batting effort helped Afghanistan thrash Bangladesh by seven wickets in a Group B match and qualify for the Super Fours of the Asia Cup 2022 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.
With their back-to-back wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Afghanistan became the first team to make it to the Super Fours.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Bangladesh batters couldn't get going for 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.
Chasing a respectable target, Najibullah Zadran (43 not out off 17) and Ibrahim Zadran (42 not out off 41) played fantastic knocks and led Afghanistan to a convincing win in 18.3 Overs, with seven wickets in hand.
Apart from Najibullah and Ibrahim, Hazratullah Zazai also played a crucial knock (23 off 26). Mosaddek Hossain (1/12), Shakib Al Hasan (1/13), and Mohammad Saifuddin (1/27) were the wicket-takers for Bangladesh.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 127/7 in 20 overs (Mosaddek Hossain 48 not out, Mahmudullah 25; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/16 and Rashid Khan 3/22) lost to Afghanistan 131-3 in 18.3 overs (Najibullah Zadran 43 not out, Ibrahim Zadran 42 not out, Mosaddek Hossain 1/12) by 7 wickets.