Asia Cup 2018, Super Four, Match 4: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan – Five Talking Points

Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by three runs in their fourth match of the Super fours in Asia Cup 2018 in Dubai.

The Tigers played excellent cricket at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

Meanwhile, a lot had happened to fall into the talking points of the day.

However, earlier in the day,  skipper, Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat first. There have been some changes in the Bangladesh team; however, the Afghanistan team remains unchanged.

Bangladesh opening duo, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, and Liton Das made an unimpressive start. The pair could not get runs as Aftab Alam broke the stand. The Bangladesh openers could add only 16 runs in 29 balls when Alam dismissed Shanto for 6. Later, Mujeeb Ur Rahman sent back Mohammad Mithun who scored just a single run.

Moreover, Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah partnered brilliantly after they lost their five wickets scoring 87 runs on the board. The duo added 128 runs in the middle and crossed the 200 run mark. Afghanistan bowler, Aftab Alam bagged three wickets, and Bangladesh managed to post a total of 249 runs at the end of 50th overs losing seven wickets.

However, while chasing down the target, Afghanistan lost their first wicket in the fifth as Mahmudullah did the job for Bangladesh. Later, Shakib superbly ran out Rahmat Shah. Moreover, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Mohammad Shahzad partnered 63 runs to give some relief in the batting order.

Bangladesh skipper managed to pick up two wickets from his full quota. Later, Asghar Afghan and Hashmatullah contributed some additional valuable runs to take toward the 200 runs landmark. However, Nabi played some good cricket, in the end and Mustifizur did the rest in the last over.

Here we take a look at five talking points from Bangladesh and Afghanistan:  

Imraul Kayes played a fantastic innings

The left-hander returned to the ODI fold after almost a year and marked it with an unbeaten 72 off 89 balls. He batted at No 6. and was included unusually in the Bangladesh squad, based on the side’s poor batting display in back-to-back matches.

However, Imrul maintained his reputation of strong comebacks, and struck an innings-saving half-century, his 15th ODI fifty, as Bangladesh recovered from a batting disaster.

Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah partnered 100+ runs

Bangladesh was in dire straits in the first half of their innings before Mahmudullah, and Imrul Kayes led an excellent recovery through a 128-run sixth wicket. However, their association had lifted the team to a total of 249 for 7 in their Super Four game against Afghanistan.

Moreover, Mahmudullah and Kayes scored crucial half-centuries that arrested the slide after Bangladesh were reduced to 87 for 5. They put up some good show when the team required, and they both gave a ray of hope for their team.

Aftab Alam bowled a brilliant spell

Afghanistan bowler, Aftab Alam bowled an excellent spell of ten overs. He bagged with three wickets picking up the dangerous batsman Mahmudullah. Alam also picked up the early wicket for Afghanistan by taking the wicket of Nazmul Hossain Shanto.

Moreover, he bowled a spell of ten overs giving 54 runs and picked up three wickets which helped them to restrict Bangladesh to 249 for 7.

Hashmatullah Shahidi played a brilliant innings

Asghar Afghan and Hashmatullah Shahid partnered brilliantly

The duo added 78 runs in the middle to help Afghanistan post 150+ landmark. Both of them played extremely well to release some pressure from the team members. However, the duo was playing slowly to be in the crease until the end but couldn’t manage to do that. Meanwhile, they did their best to help their team to be in the format.