ISLAMABAD 31, August 2022 (Online): Najibullah Zadran tore into the opposition attack with six sixes to lead Afghanistan into the Asia Cup Super 4 with a crushing seven-wicket win over Bangladesh on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Chasing 128 for victory, Afghanistan were in trouble at 62-3 when Najibullah (43) joined Ibrahim Zadran (42) for an unbeaten stand of 69 as they won by nine balls to spare in Sharjah.<\/p>\n
Spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan took three wickets each to set up victory as Afghanistan restricted the opposition to 127-7 after Bangladesh elected to bat first.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan, led by Mohammad Nabi, registered their second straight victory to become the first of the six teams to enter the next stage of the competition, which acts as a tune-up to the T20 World Cup in October-November.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 11 when skipper Shakib Al Hasan, playing his 100th T20 international, got the opener stumped with his left-arm spin.<\/p>\n
Mosaddek Hossain got Hazratullah Zazai out for 23 with his off spin as Afghanistan seemed to lose control of their chase with runs hard to come by.<\/p>\n
They were trouble when skipper Mohammad Nabi departed in the 13th over and Bangladesh supporters, who clearly outnumbered the Afghans, raised the roof.<\/p>\n
But the left-handed Najibullah timed the chase to perfection as he finished with a flurry of sixes and one four in his 17-ball blitz.<\/p>\n
The innings put Ibrahim\u2019s knock in shade as he hit four fours in his 41-ball stay.<\/p>\n
Earlier Mujeeb, a spinner who can turn the ball both ways, shared the new ball with left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi and struck in each of his first three overs, including the key wicket of Shakib for 11.<\/p>\n
Rashid, a leg-spinner, joined forces with Mujeeb after six overs of powerplay \u2013 when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle \u2013 to send back wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim trapped lbw for one.<\/p>\n
Mushfiqur failed to pick a superb Rashid googly which the umpire gave not out only for Afghanistan to successfully review the decision in their favour.<\/p>\n
Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad attempted to rebuild but Rashid broke through with a another googly that trapped the left-handed Afif lbw. He made 12.<\/p>\n
Rashid struck again and cut short Mahmudullah\u2019s stay on 25 as the batsman top-edged a shot to deep mid-wicket.<\/p>\n
Mosaddek Hossain then took on the bowlers to smash four boundaries and a six in his late blitz of 48, but Afghanistan finished by giving away just seven runs in the final over that included a run out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD 31, August 2022 (Online): Najibullah Zadran tore into the opposition attack with six sixes to lead Afghanistan into the Asia Cup Super 4 with a crushing seven-wicket win over Bangladesh on Tuesday. Chasing 128 for victory, Afghanistan were in trouble at 62-3 when Najibullah […]<\/p>\n
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