LAHORE: Allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto smashed centuries before Bangladesh’s pace bowlers shared eight wickets to beat Afghanistan by 89 runs in the Asia Cup in Lahore on Sunday.
Miraz hit a 119-ball 112 for his highest ODI score while Shanto scored a 105-ball 104 to help Bangladesh to 334-5 before they bowled out Afghanistan for 245 in 44.3 overs.
Taskin Ahmed (4-44), Shoriful Islam (3-36) and Hasan Mahmud (1-61) took wickets at regular intervals to keep Bangladesh’s hopes of reaching the Super Four stage alive.
Afghanistan will now play title holders Sri Lanka — who defeated Bangladesh in their first game — on Tuesday in Lahore to decide who qualifies for the next round.
Set to chase their highest target in ODIs, Afghanistan got off to a disastrous start with Islam trapping the dangerous Rahmanullah Gurbaz leg-before in the second over for one.
Ibrahim Zadran, who top-scored with 75, added 78 for the second wicket with Rahmat Shah (33) and another 52 for the third with Hashmatullah Shahidi (51) but failed to keep up the momentum.
Mahmud ended Zadran’s 74-ball knock with a brilliant diving catch by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim to hit Afghanistan hard. He hit ten boundaries and a six.
Shahidi and Najibullah Zadran (17) added 62 for the fourth wicket to keep Afghanistan in the hunt but they fell in quick succession.
With 123 needed off the last ten overs, Rashid Khan hit a 15-ball 24 but that was too little, too late.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan praised Miraz.
“We played very well all-round,” said Shakib. “Mehidy got his chance up the order and proved himself, we always knew he had the ability. We executed our plans really well.”
Afghanistan skipper Shahidi was disappointed with his team’s bowling.
“We conceded too many runs,” said Shahidi. “It was still chaseable but we fell short and now our last game is do-or-die.”
Earlier, Miraz and Shanto helped Bangladesh put up their highest ODI total outside their own country.
The pair lifted their team from the loss of Mohammad Naim (28) and Towhid Hridoy (0) through a third-wicket stand of 194 off 190 balls, punishing Afghanistan’s spinners on a flat Qaddafi stadium pitch.
Bangladesh changed up their tactics after losing their first game, promoting right-hander Miraz up the order to open the innings.
Miraz justified the decision by striking seven boundaries before he hurt his left hand while hitting a third six and walked off the field.
Shanto hit nine boundaries and two sixes before he was run out in the 45th over as Bangladesh piled up 103 runs in the last ten overs.
Shakib carried on the good work with an 18-ball 32 not out that was laced with four boundaries and a six.
Afghanistan’s much-vaunted spin trio failed to stop the flow of runs with only Mujeeb Ur Rahman getting one wicket while Rashid went wicketless in his 10 overs which cost 66 runs.
Pakistan have already qualified for the Super Fours from Group A by beating Nepal in their first match and then seeing their clash against India end in a no result due to rain in Pallekele on Saturday.
Bangladesh thump Afghanistan to keep Asia Cup hopes alive
https://arab.news/c49kg
Bangladesh thump Afghanistan to keep Asia Cup hopes alive
- Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto smash centuries
- Afghanistan will now play title holders Sri Lanka on Tuesday for Super Four berth
Forest, Celtic into Europa League play-offs as Villa fight back
- Villa looked to be sliding to just a second defeat in Europe this campaign when Salzburg surged 2-0 ahead in Birmingham through goals from Karim Konate and Moussa Yeo
PARIS, France: Nottingham Forest will go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros on Thursday, while Celtic secured their place in the knockout phase with victory over Utrecht.
Aston Villa finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured.
Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way.
Sean Dyche’s side did their bit as Igor Jesus struck twice for Forest after Ferencvaros defender Bence Otvos scored an own goal. James McAtee tucked away a late penalty, but the win was only enough for the Premier League club to finish 13th overall.
“It has not been easy through various games, the schedule, planning, traveling and all that sort of stuff. To come out of a disappointing one in Braga (1-0 loss last week) and then to deliver that I am very pleased,” Dyche told TNT Sports.
Twice former European champions Forest will learn their play-off fate on Friday. They will face Fenerbahce or Panathinaikos over two legs next month, while Stuttgart or Ferencvaros await Celtic, who overcame lowly Utrecht 4-2 after scoring three times in the first 19 minutes in Glasgow.
Benjamin Nygren put Celtic ahead before an own goal from Utrecht captain Nick Viergever. Arne Engels converted a penalty with Celtic cruising, but Utrecht pulled it back to within one until Auston Trusty’s header gave the hosts some more breathing space.
Teen wins it for Villa
Villa looked to be sliding to just a second defeat in Europe this campaign when Salzburg surged 2-0 ahead in Birmingham through goals from Karim Konate and Moussa Yeo.
Morgan Rogers reduced the deficit and Tyrone Mings headed Villa level, with 19-year-old Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba netting his first senior goal to complete the turnaround for Unai Emery’s men.
“It’s a proud moment for me on my European debut,” Jimoh-Aloba told TNT Sports. “It’s just really nice to make my family proud and stuff because of all the hard work. I’ve had a lot of lows this season and a lot of highs, but this is top.”
Villa, who sit third in the Premier League, will get a welcome break before the last 16 — where they could meet Lille, PAOK, Red Star Belgrade or Celta Vigo.
Emery has won the Europa League a record four times as a manager and Rogers believes that is a considerable advantage for Villa.
“He knows how to get his way through a competition, especially this one. To have him in our corner guiding us through it is going to be massive,” said Rogers.
Lyon topped the table with seven wins from eight after completing the league phase with a 4-2 victory over PAOK. A minute’s silence was observed before kick-off in memory of the seven Greek fans killed in a minibus accident in Romania on Tuesday.
Midtjylland, Real Betis, Porto, Braga, Freiburg and Roma all finished in the top eight to ensure direct qualification for the last 16.
Rangers concluded a miserable European campaign with a 3-1 loss at Porto, their sixth defeat in eight games in the competition.
