Bangladesh have kept themselves in contention for the next round of cricket’s Asia Cup 2025 by defeating Afghanistan by eight runs in their Group B encounter in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.
Afghanistan came close to securing their place in the Super Four stage and knocking out Bangladesh, but fell short in their chase of 155 on Tuesday.
The Bangladeshi pacers kept Afghanistan’s batters in check with regular wickets as Mustafizur Rahman (3-28 in four overs), Nasum Ahmed (2-11 in four overs) and Taskin Ahmed (2-34 in four overs) applied the brakes on Afghanistan’s innings.
Apart from Rahmanullah Gurbaz 35 (31) and Azmatullah Omarzai 30 (16), none of the Afghan batters could move into the 30s.
Captain Rashid Khan’s flurry at the end of the innings – 20 (11) – did look threatening for Bangladesh at one point, but once he was dismissed, Afghanistan’s chances were all but gone.
Despite a couple of late sixes from spinner Noor Ahmad, Afghanistan fell short and were dismissed for 145 in their 20 overs.
Earlier, Tanzid Hasan top-scored for Bangladesh with a half-century (52 off 31) to help set up a challenging target of 154-5 in 20 overs.
Rashid and Noor took two wickets apiece for Afghanistan.
Bangladesh have now played all three of their group games and will await the result of Afghanistan’s all-important match against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Sri Lanka are at top spot with four points, and Bangladesh move to second place with four points.
The Tigers will hope that Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan to open their path to the Super Fours.
Should Afghanistan win, the net run rate could come into play as a deciding factor.
