Afghanistan's bowlers wreaked havoc on Bangladesh batters as Mohammad Nabi-led side bullied Tigers by 62 runs in the ICC World Cup warm-up match on Monday (October 17).
Chasing a total of 161, Bangladesh were bowled out to just 98 which recorded their nine-wicket defeat.
Earlier, skipper Mohammad Nabi slammed a quickfire 41 off just 17 balls as he helped his team post 160 on board. After opting to bat first Afghanistan did a good job with the bat with Ibrahim Zadran top-scoring with the bat by scoring 46 off 39 balls.
Nabi went berserk to stay unbeaten on 41 off 17 with the help of one four and as many as five sixes. Hasan Mahmud was Bangladesh’s standout bowler with figures of 4-0-24-2.
Najmul Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz opened with the bat in the absence of Liton Das, but Fazle Haq Farooqi shook Najmul's stumps after he scored 12 runs. Then came Soumya Sarkar batting at number three. The southpaw was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman for 1.
Both Shakib and Afif Hossain were outplayed by the swing of Farooqi. Shakib bagged only 1 while Afif went for a duck.
Miraz played a sluggish 16-run innings from 31 balls. His misery ended when Naveen-ul-Haq hit the woodwork.
Nurul Hasan scored 13 off 8 before slicing one to third-man off Fareed.
Mosaddek Hossain provided some resistance for Bangladesh, which helped them reach 98 for 9 in 20 overs after they were struggling at 47 for seven.
Earlier, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (27 off 19) and Ibrahim Zadran (46 off 39) were outstanding during a 43-run stand before Taskin Ahmed caught Hazrat Zazai for 15 in the fourth over, at deep square leg.
In the 14th over, Taskin struck again to remove Darwish Rasooli, and in the next over, Ibrahim was picked up by Hasan Mahmud, putting Afghanistan in a bit of a bind.
Afghanistan reached 118 for five before losing Najibullah Zadran to Hasan in the 17th over.
However, Afghanistan was able to reach 160/7 thanks in large part to Mohammad Nabi's 17-ball 41, which came in the final three overs.
For Bangladesh, Mahmud was the most successful with 2/24, while Shakib remained the most expensive, allowing 46 runs in his four overs while only claiming two. Left-arm fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi was the wrecker-in-chief after he picked 3/42 as he dismissed Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan and Afif Hossain Dhrubo.
