A battling half-century by Tanzid Hasan and excellent bowling by Mustafizur Rahman took centre phase as Bangladesh gamers held their nerves to beat Afghanistan by 8 runs in a Group B encounter of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Mustafizur Rahman was the choice of the bowlers for Bangladesh as he bagged 3 wickets while Taskin Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, and Nasum Ahmed dismissed 2 scalps each. With this win, Bangladesh keep themselves alive in the competition and defend an area in the Super 4 phase.
Before this match, Afghanistan never ever went after a target of more than 150 versus a complete member Asian country.
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Chasing after 155, Afghanistan had a devastating start as they lost opener Sediqullah Atal on the extremely first ball of the innings by Nasum Ahmed. It was a wicket maiden for the spinner. Ibrahim Zadran concerned bat at No. 3 and signed up with Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The duo attempted to restore the innings and struck a couple of fours before Nasum struck once again to dismiss Zadran in the 5th over.
Gulbadin Naib concerned bat No. 4 and struck Mustafizur Rahman for a 4 to reach 27/2 at the end of the powerplay.
Gulbadin and Gurbaz sewed a 33-run crucial collaboration for the 3rd wicket before Rishad Hossain captured and bowled the previous for 16. Gurbaz kept the scoreboard running and smashed Saif Hassan for a 6 over long-off. Afghanistan were 61/3 at the midway mark.
Rishad eliminated Gurbaz on the 2nd ball of the 11th over to offer a huge shock to their chase. He left after scoring 35, laced with 2 6s and as lots of fours. Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai had a short 11-run stand as Mustafizur bowled the previous out for 15.
Omarzai struck the 6th equipment and smashed Saif for a 4 and 2 optimums to create 20 from it. Pacer Taskin Ahmed dismissed Azmatullah for 30 to offer some break to his side. Rashid got off to a mark with a no-look 6 and a 4 to keep his side alive in the match.
In the next over, Karim Janat and Rashid were associated with a mix-up that led to the elimination of the previous. In the last 2 overs, Afghanistan required 27 go to win the match. Regardless of being pinched hit a 4 on the very first ball, Mustafizur sent out Rashid back to the structure on the next ball to put pressure back on the Afghans.
The formula turned to 22 off the last over. Noor Ahmad struck 2 6s to bring them closer to the target, however eventually fell on the last ball of the innings as Bangladesh won a triumph.
Choosing to bat initially, the Bangladesh openers provided a flying start with Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan taking advantage of the powerplay. The batting side might just handle 8 runs in the very first 2 overs without a border before Tanzid hammered 4 borders of Fazalhaq Farooqi’s over. Saif too signed up with the bandwagon, striking a 6 off AM Ghazanfar before smashing a 4 in Azmatullah Omarzai’s next over.
The last over of the field limitations brought a great deal of pleasure for Tanzid as he released Ghazanfar for 2 optimums to collect 19 from the over. Bangladesh were looking strong with a rating of 59/0 after 6 overs. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan offered the very first advancement to his side, tidying up Saif for 30 in the seventh over.
Bangladesh captain Litton Das signed up with Tanzid in the middle. The fall of a wicket brought 2 tight overs for Afghanistan before Tanzid smacked a 6 over deep backwards square leg to move into the 40s. Bangladesh reached 87/1 at the midway mark.
After the beverages break, Noor Ahmad made an immediate effect with his really first ball, trapping Bangladesh captain Litton Das plumb in front. The tossed-up shipment around leg beat the tried sweep, and an effective evaluation validated 3 reds, sending out the skipper back early.
Tanzid finished his half-century in 28 balls previously striking Noor for a 6 to bring up 100 for Bangladesh in the 13th over. Later on in the exact same over, Noor struck once again, dismissing Tanzid for 52, an innings that included 3 6s and 4 borders.
Shamim Hossain and Towhid Hridoy were attempting to keep the scoreboard ticking, and the previous hit 2 fours off Rashid Khan in the 14th over before striking Noor for a limit in the next over as Bangladesh were 119/3 after 15 overs.
Rashid Khan interrupted Shamim’s innings for 11 in the 16th over to limit Bangladesh from scoring huge in the death overs. In the penultimate over, Omarzai dismissed Hridoy after scoring 26 as Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan played similar knocks of 12 each to drag Bangladesh to 154/5 in 20 overs.
For Afghanistan, spinners Rashid and Noor bagged 2 scalps each to include Bangladesh after getting a strong start.