Bangladesh’s Nasum Ahmed celebrates the dismissal of Afghanistan’s Sediqullah Atal, unseen, during the Asia Cup Cricket match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, (AP)
Abu Dhabi: Bangladesh kept themselves alive in the hunt to advance into the Super 4s of the Asia Cup 2025, beating Afghanistan by a narrow margin of eight runs on Tuesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. The result of the match has made the equation in Group B interesting, and three teams – Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are in the race to qualify for the Super 4s. Tanzid Hasan shone in the victory, playing a knock of 52 runs while Mustrafizur Rehman picked three wickets for the Bangla Tigers.
Bangladesh post 154/5 batting first
Bangladesh chose to bat after winning the toss, and the opening pair of Saif Hassan (30) and Tanzid Hasan formed a partnership of 63 runs. While wickets fell continuously around him, Tnanzid kept on playing some impressive strokes to play a crucial knock of 52 runs. His stay at the crease helped the team to post 154/5 on the scoreboard, setting a modest target of 155 for the opposition.
Spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad picked two wickets each for the Afghan side and played a key role in not allowing Bangladesh to score big.
Afghanistan makes it close to the target
It was a do-or-die contest for Bangladesh, and they put in hard yards to make the chase difficult for Afghanistan. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 35 runs at the top while Azmatullah Omarzai scored 30 runs during his stay at the crease. Mustrafizur Rahman picked up three wickets for Bangladesh, while Nasum Ahmed scalped two wickets while conceding just 11 runs during his spell.
Afghanistan needed 31 runs from the last three overs, but the dismissal of Rashid Khan, who was looking in rhythm, hampered their chase.
Equation to qualify for Super 4s
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are in the race to enter the Super 4 of the tournament. If Sri Lanka beats Afghanistan in their next match, they will cruise into the next stage along with Bangladesh. If Afghanistan beats Sri Lanka, they will qualify for the Super 4, along with whoever finishes with a higher net run rate among Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. For Sri Lanka’s NRR to finish below Bangladesh, they have to lose by around 70 runs/50 balls to spare against Afghanistan.
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