Afghanistan produced a clinical performance to beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the third match of Asia Cup 2022 on Tuesday. The Group B win at Sharjah Cricket Stadium helped Mohammad Nabi & Co. become the first side to confirm a Super 4 spot in the tournament. They had defeated five-time champions, Sri Lanka, by eight wickets in the tournament opener. The second Super 4 spot from the group will be decided between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Chasing a tricky target of 128 runs, Afghanistan were in a spot of bother in the middle overs with the score at 62/3, but the two Zadrans -- Ibrahim (42 not out off 41) and Najibullah (43 off 17) -- stitched an unbeaten 69-run stand in just 33 balls to seal the match.
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Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first. But the Afghan spin twins, Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan took three wickets each for combined figures of 6/38 in eight overs to effectively snub the life of the contest. Mosaddek Hossain scored an unbeaten 48 off 31 balls to give some respectability to the Bangladesh score. Catch highlights of AFG vs BAN, Asia Cup 2022 match here.
Brief Scores
Bangladesh: 127 for 7 in 20 overs (Mosaddek Hossain - 48 not out; Mujeeb Ur Rahman - 3/16, Rashid Khan - 3/22).
Afghanistan: 131 for 3 in 18.3 overs (Ibrahim Zadran - 42 not out, Najibullah Zadran - 43 not out; Mosaddek Hossain - 1/12, Shakib Al Hasan - 1/13).
