The fourth match of the Asia Cup 2023 took place today between Bangladesh and Afghanistan at Gaddafi Stadium, where Bangladesh secured a dominating victory by 89 runs. This dominating victory keeps Bangladesh’s hope alive for the Super Four as they are in the 2nd in Group B.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka are still at the top of the table with two points, as same as Bangladesh. But because of the high run rate, the Lankans have almost secured their place in the Super Four. It means Afghanistan’s journey is almost over after this massive defeat against Bangladesh. They need to do something miraculous against Sri Lanka in their upcoming match to secure the top four.
Match Report
The batting performance of Bangladesh against Sri Lanka was below average. Therefore, Bangladesh made three changes to their squad to face Afghanistan.
However, Shakib Al Hasan decided to bat first after winning the toss at Gaddafi Stadium. But the skipper sent Mehedy Hasan Miraz instead of Najmul Hossain Shanto in the opening with Mohammad Naim. Relying on them, Bangladesh had a decent opening partnership after ages. They added 60 runs together in the first wicket.
Anyway, the first blood was drawn when Afghan spinner Mujib Ur Rahman bowled out Mohammad Naim. Naim added 28 off 32 before leaving the crease. Towhid Hridoy, the following batter, also failed to contribute. But Miraz played a fantastic innings with Najmul Hossain Shanto. The two batters led Bangladesh towards a big target.
Mehdi Hasan Miraz, who usually plays as a spinner, was so comfortable with the bat. He smashed a brilliant century today against Afghanistan. Miraz scored the highest 112 runs for Bangladesh before being injured. Meanwhile, Najmul Shanto continues his excellent form with his bat. Once again, he picked up a century and ended his innings with 104 runs today. Relying on these two, Bangladesh scored a massive 334 runs against the Afghans.
Chasing the target, the Afghans lost an early wicket as Shoriful Islam picked up Rahmanullah Gurbaz. After that, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah tried hard to handle the situation. They slowly added runs on the scoreboard, making a partnership of 78 runs.
However, pacer Taskin Ahmed gave a breakthrough as the bowled out Rahmat Shah in the 17.5 over. But Ibrahim Zadran continued picking runs. He made another partnership of 50 runs with the skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi.
Depending on these two, the Afghans looked to get the momentum. Unfortunately, Ibrahim Zadran lost his wicket to Hasan Mahmud in the 27.3 over after scoring the highest 75 runs. After a while, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi also followed the same path, scoring 51 runs. Afghanistan never came back again after losing those two batters. Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan contributed a little, but they couldn’t avoid the defeat.
In the end, Afghanistan lost all their wickets with 245 runs in 44.3 overs. As a result, Bangladesh won the game by a massive 89 runs and have kept their hope alive for the Super Four.
