On the back of a terrific display of stroke-making from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto coupled with Taskin Ahmed's brilliant spell of bowling, Bangladesh thumped Afghanistan by 89 runs in the Asia Cup fixture on September 3 (Sunday) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Mehidy and Najmul whacked centuries with the bat while Taskin bagged four wickets with the ball in a dominant display by Bangladesh that helped the team seal a place in the Super Fours.
After winning the toss, Shakib Al Hasan elected to bat first on a batting paradise. Mehidy and Najmul registered a 194-run partnership for the third wicket after Bangladesh were reduced to 63/2. Both batters, who registered their second century in ODI cricket, batted brilliantly against a quality Afghanistan bowling attack.
Mehidy was retired hurt after scoring 112 runs off 119 balls with the help of seven fours and three sixes while Najmul was run out after scoring 104 runs off 105 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan (32 not out off 18 balls) and Rahim (25 runs off 15 balls) played handy cameos in the end for Bangladesh and powered the team's total to a daunting 334/5 in 50 overs.
For Afghanistan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Gulbadin Naib chipped with a wicket each while all the other bowlers failed to even bag a single wicket.
The run chase for Afghanistan began in a worst-possible manner as they lost in-form Rahmanullah Gurbaz for just one run. Ibrahim Zadran played an attractive knock of 75 runs off 74 balls with the help of 10 fours and one six and registered crucial partnerships with Rahmat Shah (33 runs off 57 balls) and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (51 runs off 60 balls).
With the required run rate increasing with every passing over, Afghanistan batters tried to use the long handle but in the process ended up losing their wickets. Rashid Khan scored 24 runs off 15 balls with the help of three fours and a six in the end but Afghanistan could only manage a score of 245 all-out in 44.3 overs.
For Bangladesh, Taskin finished with figures of 4/44 in 8.3 overs while Shoriful Islam finished with figures of 3/36 in nine overs, including a maiden over. Hasan Mahmud and Mehidy bagged a wicket each.
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