Asia Cup 2018: Super Four, Match 4 - Afghanistan vs Bangladesh - Toss Report

Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan in the fourth match of the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

Here is what the captains said:

Mashrafe Mortaza:

” We’ll like to bat first. We got two changes. Nazmul Islam is making his debut today. Imrul Kayes comes in for Mosaddek Hossain. We have to play with confidence. They have world class bowlers. We have to back our techniques and play confident. If we have a good start, we can carry on from there. We need to win. Hopefully, boys recovered well and give a big shot today.”

Asghar Afghan:

“We have one change. Najib is not playing. Samiullah comes in. Yesterday, we had a bit of rest. We have a very important match to play. We want to win matches.”

Preview:

Both the teams are entering the contest after suffering contrasting losses in their last games.

Asghar Afghan & Co. had given Pakistan a huge scare before losing the thrilling game. On the other hand, Bangladesh suffered a crushing 7-wicket loss at the hands of India.

If current form is anything to go by then Afghanistan will be the favourites to win the game. Both the teams had already met once at the group stage of the competition. Afghanistan had won that game comfortably, thrashing the Tigers by 136 runs. Moreover, Afghanistan will take confidence from their 3-0 win over Bangladesh in the T20 series a couple of months ago.

With so much riding on the contest, one can expect a firecracker of a game.

Playing elevens:

Afghanistan:

Mohammad Shahzad(w), Ihsanullah Janat, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Samiullah Shenwari, Asghar Afghan(c), Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Bangladesh:

 Liton Das, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Nazmul Islam