Bangladesh deflated Afghanistan – ICC World T20

Mar 16, 2014

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Bangladesh 1-78 (Anamul Haque 44, Tamim Iqbal 21, Samiullah Shenwari 1-14) beat Afghanistan 72 (Gulbadin Naib 21, Shafiqullah 16. Shakib Al Hasan 3-8, Abdur Razzak 2-20) by nine wickets

The hosts Bangladesh took a sweet revenge for the Asia Cup defeat from Afghanistan as they beat them all ends up in the opening game of the ICC World T20.

Afghanistan was bowled out for mere 72 runs in 17.1 overs and the Bengal Tigers hammered 78 with nine wickets in hand and 48 ball still available.

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his superb bowling spell of 3-8.

The ICC World T20-Qualifying Group A match was played on Sunday, March 16, 2014, at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.

Shakib Al Hasan - Excellent bowling spell of 3-8 — Shakib Al Hasan – Excellent bowling spell of 3-8

Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim, the skipper of Bangladesh, won the toss and invited the visitors, who lost their first wicket without a run on board, to bat first. Gulbadin Naib and Najeeb Tarakai started the consolidation process while the first was dropped at 17. Shakib Al Hasan struck twice in the sixth over, he removed Gulbadin Naib for 21 and his partner for 7. That was the beginning of disaster for the tourists who were unable to stay against the lethal bowling of the home side. Shafiullah and Karim Sadiq were the only other batsmen who entered the double figures with 16 and 10. The innings of the entire Afghani team was folded back for 72 runs with 17 balls still remaining.

Shakib Al Hasan was the star performer with three wickets, Abdur Razzak held two whereas Mashrafe Mortaza, Mahmudullah and Farhad Reza shared one wicket each.

Tamim Iqbal along with Anamul Haque went for chase slowly and the first was dropped at 9. They scored just 16 runs in the initial four overs but enhanced the run rate in the coming ones. Anamul Haque was the most aggressive of the two while Tamim Iqbal was declared leg before wicket off Samiullah Shenwari at 45 after scoring 21. Shakib Al Hasan walked in next and found no problem in settling down. Anamul Haque kept on teasing the rival bowlers and dispatched the winning six on the last ball of the 12^th over. He remained unbeaten for 44 with 3 towering sixes and 4 fours while Shakib Al Hasan was at the other end for 10 as they smashed 1-78.

Bangladesh won the opener with a huge margin of nine wickets and gathered two valuable points.