ABU DHABI: Hashmat­ullah Shahidi and the blazing Rashid Khan hit contrasting fifties to propel Afghanistan to 255-7 in their 50 overs in the final Group ‘B’ match in the Asia Cup in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Hashmatullah notched a 92-ball 58 with three fours to revive Afghanistan after they were jolted by the spin of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who finished with 4-42 in his 10 overs before Rashid — celebrating his 20th birthday — used the long handle to the best effect, taking Afghanistan past 250-mark with a belligerent 32-ball 57 that included eight boundaries and a six.

Rashid led a tremendous onslaught on the Bangla­deshi bowling as he and Gulbadin Naib, who scored 42 from 38 balls with five fours, plundered 97 in the final 10 overs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium after captain Asghar Afghan chose to bat at the toss.

The Gulbadin-Rashid partnership gave Afghanis­tan an ideal total to attack through their spinners, like they did after scoring 249 against Sri Lanka in their upset 91 run win in the first match, also in Abu Dhabi.

Bangladesh handed ODI debuts to left-arm fast bow­ler Abu Hider and batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who replaced Tamim Iqbal, who was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured wrist, suffered in their last game against Sri Lanka.

Hider replaced Mustafizur Rahman, while Mushfiqur Rahim was rested and was replaced by Mominul Haque, who is playing his first ODI in three years.

Mohammad Shahzad made a brisk 47-ball 37 with four boundaries.

Shakib kept Bangladesh’s hopes of restricting Afgha­nis­tan to a manageable total when he dismissed Mohammad Nabi lbw for 10 for his fourth scalp of the match as the Afghans slid to 160-7 in the 41st over.

However, Rashid and Gulbadin shifted gears with consecutive boundaries off Hider. In the final over Rashid clubbed four fours — the third of which took him to his third ODI fifty — as Mashrafe finished with 0-67 in eight overs.

Scoreboard

AFGHANISTAN:

M. Shahzad c Hider b Shakib 37
Ihsanullah c Mithun b Hider 8
Rahmat Shah b Hider 10
Hashmatullah c Das b Rubel 58
Asghar Afghan b Shakib 8
Samiullah Shenwari b Shakib 18
Mohammad Nabi lbw b Shakib 10
Gulbadin Naib not out 42
Rashid Khan not out 57

EXTRAS (B-5, W-1, NB-1) 7

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 255

FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-28, 3-79, 4-101, 5-139, 6-150, 7-160.

DID NOT BAT: Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

BOWLING: Rubel Hossain 6-1-32-0; Abu Hider 9-1-50-2 (1w); Mehedi Hasan 8-0-21-0; Mashrafe Mortaza 8-0-67-0 (1nb); Shakib Al Hasan 10-1-42-4; Mosaddek Hossain 4-0-18-0; Mominul Haque 3-0-15-0; Mahmudullah 2-0-5-0.

BANGLADESH: Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mehedi Hasan, Abu Hider, Rubel Hossain.

UMPIRES: R.J. Tucker (Australia) and N.N. Menon (India).

TV UMPIRE: S. George (South Africa).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2018