Cricket Highlights, 7 Oct: ICC Cricket World Cup (3rd Match) – Bangladesh vs Afghanistan – Bangladesh thrashed Afghanistan to open the World Cup.

Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (3rd Match) – Highlights

The adversary was not very strong. Bangladesh, however, was quite nervous about this match. This was their opening World Cup game. On the of that, the bowling attack by Afghanistan has always been a source of worry. 

This bowling lineup of Afghans—Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, and Fazlhaq Farooqi—can destroy any squad on any given day.

Afghanistan, however, was unable to catch Bangladesh off guard. The World Cup campaign for Shakib Al Hasan’s squad got off to a brilliant start as they overcame Afghanistan with 92 balls and 6 wickets left to spare.

The only people who contributed 50% of the effort in the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Stadium in Dharamshala were the bowlers. The outstanding bowling of Shakib-Miraz resulted in Afghanistan being outscored for 156 runs.

All of the Afghan batsmen failed to reach fifty runs. Only Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the game’s first batter, scored a total of 47 runs. In addition, 22 runs were scored by Azmatullah Omarzai and Ibrahim Zadran each.

For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib each captured 3 wickets for 25 runs and 30 runs respectively. For 34 runs, Shoriful Islam claimed 2 wickets.

Bangladesh was initially taken aback when chasing 157. At 27 runs, 2 wickets were lost. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nazmul Hossain Shanto, however, created a simple path for the Tigers to victory.

Miraz is currently regarded as a top-order batter. Every time the all-rounder has the opportunity to bat, whether it be once or twice, he is demonstrating that he is a true batter.

Miraz was still diminishing today, ranking third. after the team’s first wicket fell for 19 runs, he came to the crease. watched the second wicket fall for 27 runs as well.

But Miraz prevented the team from having a disastrous batting performance. This all-around player, together with Nazmul Hossain Shanto, made it possible for Bangladesh to win with ease. For the third wicket, they scored a pair of 97 runs from 129 balls.

Eventually, the third ODI half-century of Miraz’s career was achieved. Finally, Rahmat Shah’s superb one-handed catch off Naveen-ul-Haq put an end to his innings. Miraz hit five boundaries in his 57-point, 73-ball total.

Then, Shakib Al Hasan lost his wicket when the team was only 11 runs away from winning. The Tiger captain struck Azmatullah Omarzai for a six but was caught on the boundary (14 off 19 balls). 

But Shanto scored his sixth half-century in ODIs without making a mistake. The left-handed hitter took 80 balls to reach fifty. He finished with 59 off 83 balls, 3 fours, and 1 six, remaining unblemished.

The victory also came from the bat of Shanto after hitting Naveen Ul Haq for two consecutive boundaries. Finally, Mushfiqur Rahim remained unbeaten at 2 runs.

However, Bangladesh was initially in jeopardy while attempting to reach a modest target of 157 runs. For 27 runs, the Tigers lost two wickets.

Opening player Tanzid Hasan Tamim, however, met with bad luck. While attempting to take a run, Tanzid Tamim was run out by Najibullah Jadran’s direct throw. At that time, he had scored 5 runs off 13 balls. The team runs were 19.

On the other hand, expectations were high for Liton Das. But he also failed. On the 4th ball of the seventh over of the innings, he was bowled by Farooqi. The team runs at that time was 27 and Liton Das was bowled out for 13 runs off 18 balls.

Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Scoreboard 

Afghanistan – 156/10 (37.2)  

Bangladesh – 158/4 (34.4)

Result – Bangladesh won by 6 wickets

Player of the match – Mehidy Hasan Miraz

Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Playing XIs