Asia Cup 2018, Match 6, Afghanistan vs Bangladesh: Rashid Finished Very Well - Asghar Afghan

Afghanistan produced yet another sensational performance and won its second match of their Asia Cup 2018 campaign, beating Bangladesh by 136 runs. However, it was a superb knock of 57 off 42 deliveries by Rashid Khan which propelled Afghanistan to a competitive score of 255 runs in the first innings.

The willy leg-spinner showed his exceptional skills with the bat, as he smashed eight fours and a six during a breezy knock of 57. Till then, the Bangladesh bowlers were on the mark and had reduced them to 160/7.

Later in the day, the Afghanistan bowlers were quite spectacular and bowled Bangladesh out quite cheaply to register a convincing victory in Abu Dhabi. The Afghans lost two quick wickets pretty early. However, it was Mohammad Shehzad who held the fort with Hashmatullah Shahidi and shared a partnership of 51 runs. Meanwhile, while attempting a big shot, Shehzad lost his wicket to Shakib Al Hasan.

Shakib bowled quite brilliantly and bagged four wickets. The left-arm pacer pitched the ball in the perfect areas and let the batsmen commit the mistakes. Eventually, after a messy start, Afghanistan hit 255 runs.

Afghanistan bowlers were simply ruthless

Bangladesh was never in the chase. They were always behind the game and were playing catch up for the majority of 50 overs. They lost the first five wickets for just 79 runs. It was a brilliant bowling effort by the Afghan bowlers.

All of them stood out. Again Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers, as he controlled the game quite nicely in the middle overs. Only Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah managed double-digit which showed the dismal performance from Bangladesh.

They were eventually shot out for just 119 runs in the 43rd over. Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Rashid Khan bagged a couple of wickets each, as Afghanistan secured a massive victory by 136 runs.

Here is what winning skipper Asghar Afghan said at the post-match presentation,

“It was a very important game for us. We gave two wickets very easily but Rashid and Naib finished very well. If we put 230 runs on the board, it will be difficult for the opposition to chase it against us as we have good fielding and extremely good bowling.”