CANBERRA, Feb 18 (PTI): Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim struck resilient half-centuries as Bangladesh got past a fighting Afghanistan by 105 runs in their opening pool match of the cricket World Cup, here today.
Shakib (63 off 51 balls) and Rahim (71 off 56 balls) lifted Bangladesh to 267 after they were struggling at 119 for four. In the process, the two shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 114 runs to take the Tigers to a competitive total.
In reply, the Afghans were bundled out for a meagre 162 in 42.5 overs.
They had far from an ideal start as the Afghans lost three wickets for as many runs on the board. Nawroz Mangal (27) and Samiullah Shenwari (42) steadied the boat for a while, putting on 62 runs for the fourth wicket.
After Mangal and Shenwari�s got dismissed in quick succession, leaving Afghanistan reeling at 78 for five again, skipper Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran (17) shared 58 runs for the sixth wicket to keep the hopes of the team from war-torn nation alive.
But just when Bangladesh were preparing to press the panic button, Mashrafe Mortaza sent the Afghanistan captain back for a well-made 43-ball 44 that include five boundaries with the last ball of the over, while Shakib-al-Hasan dismissed Zardan with the first ball of the very next over to virtually end their hopes of making a comeback.
With the scorecard reading 136 for seven, it was just a matter of time before Afghanistan innings folded.
Although Mirwais Ashraf (10) and Aftab Alam (14) tried hard to apply themselves the Bangladesh bowlers tightened the nooze.
SCORECARD
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal c Asfar b Mirwais 19, Anamul Haque lbw b Mirwais 29, Soumya Sarkar lbw b Shapoor 28, Mahmudullah c Afsar b Shapoor 23, Shakib Al Hasan b Hamid 63, Mushfiqur Rahim c Shenwari b Nabi 71, Sabbir Rahman b Hamid 3, Mashrafe Mortaza b Aftab 14, Mominul Haque run out (Asfar) 3, Rubel Hossain not out 0, Taskin Ahmed b Aftab 1. Extras: (B-3, LB-4, W-6) 13. Total: (all out; 50 overs) 267. Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-52, 3-102, 4-119, 5-233, 6-241, 7-247, 8-263, 9-263. Bowling: Hamid Hassan 10-0-61-2, Shapoor Zadran 7-1-20-2, Aftab Alam 9-0-55-2, Mirwais Ashraf 9-3-32-2, Mohammad Nabi 9-0-58-1, Javed Ahmadi 4.5-0-32-0, Samiullah Shenwari 1.1-0-2-0.
Afghanistan: Javed Ahmadi c and b Mortaza 1, Afsar Zazai lbw b Hossain 1, Nawroz Mangal c Hossain b Mahmudullah 27, Asghar Stanikzai c Mahmudullah b Mortaza 1, Samiullah Shenwari run out (Sabbir) 42, Mohammad Nabi c Soumya b Mortaza 44, Najibullah Zadran lbw b Shakib 17, Mirwais Ashraf c Mortaza b Shakib 10, Aftab Alam not out 14, Hamid Hassan c Anamul b Taskin 0, Shapoor Zadran run out (Mushfiqur) 2. Extras: (LB-1, W-2) 3. Total: (all out; 42.5 overs) 162. Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-2, 3-3, 4-65, 5-78, 6-136, 7-136, 8-154, 9-154. Bowling: Mortaza 9-2-20-3, Hossain 6-0-27-1, Taskin 7-0-23-1, Shakib 8.5-0-43-2, Mahmudullah 8-1-31-1, Soumya 3-0-13-0, Sabbir 1-0-4-0.
