Bangladesh ended their ODI tri-series campaign without a win after suffering a seven wicket defeat against Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Afghanistan chased down Bangladesh’s total of 160 with ease, reaching 161 for three in 35.3 overs. The result confirmed Afghanistan’s place in the final against Zimbabwe on Friday.
Bangladesh needed to beat Afghanistan by at least 41 runs to reach the final. However, another poor batting display left them with little chance of staying in the tournament.
Chasing 161, Afghanistan made a steady start before Taskin Ahmed removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for six.
Taskin struck again to dismiss Sediqullah Atal for four, giving Bangladesh some early hope. However, Ibrahim Zadran and captain Rahmat Shah took control of the chase. The pair added valuable runs and kept Afghanistan on course for victory.
Mustafizur Rahman later dismissed Ibrahim for 34 off 48 balls, with Najmul Hossain Shanto taking the catch.
Rahmat then joined hands with Hashmatullah Shahidi to take Afghanistan closer to the target. The two batters faced little trouble against the Bangladesh bowlers.
Rahmat completed his half century as Afghanistan continued to move towards victory. Bangladesh’s hopes of reaching the final ended when Afghanistan reached 120 runs. The Tigers needed to restrict their opponents below that mark to stay ahead of Zimbabwe on net run rate.
Afghanistan eventually completed the chase with 87 balls remaining. Rahmat stayed unbeaten on 67 off 90 balls, while Shahidi scored 38 not out from 54 deliveries.
Taskin finished with two wickets, while Mustafizur claimed one.
Earlier, Bangladesh captain Towhid Hridoy won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the decision did not pay off as the Tigers suffered another batting collapse.
Tanzid Hasan Tamim fell for just one run before Soumya Sarkar departed for a golden duck.
Najmul Hossain Shanto scored 15, while Hridoy failed to open his account. Bangladesh lost four wickets for only 28 runs. Saif Hassan and Parvez Hossain Emon then tried to rescue the innings. The pair added 93 runs for the fifth wicket to give Bangladesh some hope.
Saif scored 41 off 82 balls before losing his wicket with the team total on 121. Emon continued to fight as wickets fell at the other end. He reached his half century and eventually scored 70 off 96 deliveries.
However, none of the remaining batters could offer much support. Mehidy Hasan Miraz managed only two runs, while Shoriful Islam added seven.
Rashid Khan led Afghanistan’s bowling attack with four wickets. He also dismissed Aliss Al Islam and Mustafizur Rahman with consecutive deliveries to end Bangladesh’s innings at 160 in 41.2 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai and Yamin Ahmadzai took two wickets each. Bangladesh had earlier lost their opening match against Zimbabwe by 99 runs. Their second straight defeat brought a disappointing end to the tournament, with the Tigers failing to reach the final.
