Bangladesh’s Asia Cup campaign stayed alive on Tuesday night as Tanzid Hasan’s brisk half-century and Mustafizur Rahman’s three-wicket burst secured an eight-run win over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
Opting to bat, Tanzid (52 off 28 balls) set the tone with a boundary-filled powerplay, striking three sixes and four fours in a fluent knock. His opening stand of 59 with Saif Hassan (30) ensured Bangladesh capitalised early, reaching 87/1 at the halfway mark.
But the innings lost momentum after Tanzid’s dismissal in the 13th over. Afghanistan spinners Noor Ahmad (2-23) and Rashid Khan (2-26) pegged Bangladesh back, restricting them to 154/5 in 20 overs.
Skipper Litton Das admitted Bangladesh fell short. “We didn’t bat well in the last four or five overs. We were 15–20 runs short of the ideal score on this pitch,” he said.
Mustafizur Leads Bowling Fightback
Chasing 155, Afghanistan never quite recovered from Nasum Ahmed’s wicket-maiden first over, where Sediqullah Atal fell without scoring. Gurbaz (35) tried to anchor the innings, but wickets kept tumbling. Rishad Hossain (2-18) and Nasum (2-11) struck in the middle overs before Mustafizur applied the finishing touches with 3-28. Taskin Ahmed chipped in with two wickets, including the dangerous Omarzai (30).
The way our bowlers bowled was very good, especially Nasum after a long break, and Rishad in the middle overs. That’s what won us the game.
Afghanistan’s Late Fight Falls Short
Despite cameos from Omarzai, Rashid Khan (16) and Noor Ahmad (17), Afghanistan couldn’t quite close the chase. They needed 22 off the last over, and though Noor cleared the ropes twice, his dismissal on the final ball sealed Bangladesh’s win.
We were in the game until the end, but we put pressure on ourselves and couldn’t execute. Chasing 30 off 15 is very achievable nowadays, but we lost it with irresponsible shots.
Qualification Scenario
The victory lifts Bangladesh above Afghanistan on points, but their Super 4 chances depend on results elsewhere. With a negative Net Run Rate (-0.27), they must now hope Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka by a margin of 65 runs to progress.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 154/5 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 52, Saif Hassan 30; Noor Ahmad 2-23, Rashid Khan 2-26) Afghanistan 146 all out in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 35, Azmatullah Omarzai 30; Mustafizur Rahman 3-28, Rishad Hossain 2-18, Nasum Ahmed 2-11) Bangladesh won by 8 runs. On Wednesday, Pakistan will play UAE at 18.30 GST.
