Shakib Al Hasan produced yet another instance of his sublime display to guide Bangladesh to a 62-run win over Afghanistan on Monday. He became the only second player after India’s Yuvraj Singh to take five wickets and score a fifty in a World Cup match.
Shakib finished his spell of 10 overs with 5-29 after contributing with 51 runs with the bat during the Bangladeshi innings. Another highlight of the Bangladeshi batting was Mushfiqur Rahim, whose 83 runs in 87 balls helped his side post a formidable total of 262-7 against Afghanistan.
While chasing the target, Afghanistan made a promising start slowed down after losing Rahmat Shah at 49. Captain Gulbadin Naib played a knock of 47 runs followed by Samiullah Shinwari, who was unlucky to not have completed his 50 and remained unbeaten at 49 when his side were bowled out for 200 in 47 overs.
With Monday’s win, Bangladesh has kept their semi-final hopes alive. They now have seven points in as many matches. Their next two remaining matches are against India and Pakistan. The good news for them is that the Tigers have beaten Pakistan in each of their past four encounters.
Man Of The Match Shakib said that it was his five-wicket haul that gave him more pleasure today. He said, “I think the five wickets gave me greater pleasure, it was important. But I had to work really hard with the bat and without Mushfiqur and lots of little innings that really contributed we wouldn’t have got that total. It was a team effort with the bat – we knew it would be tough with their three quality spinners. We had to bat really well to get those runs.
Afghan captain Naib said, “Obviously we played two tough games and today we missed something. Our fielding gave away 30-40 runs extra.
“The wicket was very slow and it helped our spinners. It wasn’t too much tougher in the second innings but Shakib bowled really well.”
Brief score:
Bangladesh 262-7 (50 overs): Mushfiqur 83, Shakib 51; Mujeeb 3-39
Afghanistan 200 (47 overs): Gulbadin 47, Shinwari 49; Shakib 5-29