Shakib al Hasan's all-round brilliance downed Afghanistan for the seventh time in the tournament as Bangladesh registered a 62-run win at the Rose Bowl on Monday. The veteran all-rounder backed up his half-century with a five-wicket haul to bundle out Afghanistan for 200 in pursuit of the 263-run target.
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Despite another attempt to bat out 50 overs, Afghanistan failed to do so as they folded up in 47. The fight shown by the top-order, especially skipper Gulbadin Naib, proved futile in the end as Bangladesh first choked the flow of runs and later, courtesy Shakib's five wickets, ran through the middle order.
Afghanistan began well in the chase, with Rahmat Shah and Naib posting 48 runs without losing a wicket in the first powerplay. However, once Rahmat fell to Shakib in the 11th over, Afghanistan failed to sustain the scoring rate. Hashmatullah Shahidi, in specific, struggled his way to a 31-ball 11.
The veteran Samiullah Shenwari, who was included in this match in place of the big-hitting Hazratullah Zazai, showed promise with a 51-ball 49 but didn't get ample support from the other end. Najibullah Zadran paired up with him for a 55-run stand but they could never keep themselves in tune with the required rate. Mustafizur Rahman snared two lower order wickets and Mohammad Shaifuddin wrapped up the formalities in the end to power Bangladesh to the fifth spot on the points table, only one shy of England.
Earlier in the day, half-centuries by Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib set the tone for Bangladesh's 262 for 7. On a tricky surface where run-making wasn't easy and big shots difficult to time, the duo put its experience to good use and scored at a fairly decent clip courtesy smart rotation of strike.
There was help for Afghanistan's spin trio - Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan - with the ball gripping, and they did put the batsmen in some discomfort, especially Mujeeb who returned a three-wicket haul. However, some edges not carrying, some falling in gaps and some missing the stumps ensured that the Bangladesh batsmen had their share of luck to ride on.
With only four wickets lost till the 40th over, they were afforded the luxury of going big in the death. Mosaddek Hossain used that to good effect and scored a brisk 24-ball 35. In the end, the total proved too big for Afghanistan to compete with.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 262/7 in 50 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 83, Shakib Al Hasan 51; Mujeeb ur Rahman 3-39, Gulbadin Naib 2-56) beat Afghanistan 200 in 47 overs (Samiullah Shenwari 49*, Gulbadin Naib 47; Shakib Al Hasan 5-29, Mustafizur Rahman 2-32) by 62 runs
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