Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Asia Cup 2023: Mehidy Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto lead Bangladesh to victory by 89 runs

Ban vs. Afg, Asia Cup 2023: Mehidy Hasan (112) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (104) displayed some extraordinary cricket for Bangladesh and led them to victory against Afghanistan by 89 runs on Sunday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. The Afghanistan players faced the wrath of Bangladesh batters with no breakthrough. Every bowler turned out to be expensive against Mehidy Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto including Afghanistan star Rashid Khan who failed to display his magic.

Bangladesh decided to bat after winning the toss and had a good start with Mohammad Naim (28) and Mehidy Hasan building a 60-run opening partnership. After 10 overs, Afghanistan got some back-to-back wickets in the form of Mohammad Naim and Towhid Hridoy (0), but then Najmul Hossain Shanto walked onto the ground.

Mehidy Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto started punishing every Afghan bowler indiscriminately and at one point the match became very one-sided. Both players played the game for the next 33-34 overs and took Bangladesh's score to 278 when Najmul Hossain Shanto got dismissed in a run-out ending the great partnership.

Mehidy Hasan continued the onslaught, but now Afghanistan players were attempting hard to get back into the game. The next two wickets- Mushfiqur Rahim (25) and Shamim Hossain (11) were clinched on time and with that Bangladesh gave a high target of 335 to Afghanistan.

Bangladesh's bowling was as impressive as their batting as they stopped the Afghanistan unit at just 245 runs. From the Afghan side, Ibrahim Zadran (75) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (51) played some good cricket but couldn't convert their performance to victory.

Bangladesh bowler Taskin Ahmed bowled a beautiful spell and took 4 crucial wickets during the match. Shoriful Islam also displayed the magic of his pace and was the most economical bowler. He also smashed 3 wickets and broke the backbone of the Bangladesh team.