ABU DHABI: Bangladesh notched a thrilling eight-run victory over Afghanistan in a must-win game and stayed alive for the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup on Tuesday.
Afghanistan now needs to beat Group B leader Sri Lanka in its last group game as three teams are still in contention to get the final two spots for the next round.
Bangladesh spinners Nasum Ahmed (2-11) and Rishad Hossain (2-18) stifled Afghanistan’s top-order batters before left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman (3-28) knocked out the tailenders in the death overs to bowl out the opposition for 146 off the final ball.
Earlier, Afghanistan slow bowlers also squeezed Bangladesh in the middle-overs with Noor Ahmad and captain Rashid Khan sharing four wickets for 49 runs and restricted them to 154-5.
Bangladesh brilliant with the ball
Bangladesh’s ploy to field Nasum in place of Mahedi Hasan worked out perfectly as the left-arm spinner trapped Sediqullah Atal leg before wicket off the very first ball with the new ball and went on to bowl a wicket maiden over.
Nasum’s three overs in the powerplay pinned down Afghanistan to 27-2 as he also accounted for the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, who struggled for 12 deliveries and could score only 5.
Top-scorer Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35) held one end up, but Rishad’s two quick wickets saw Afghanistan slipping to 62-4 by the halfway stage as Gurbaz swept straight to backward square where Jaker Ali took a well-judged catch.
Afghanistan had lost half of its side for 77 runs in 13 overs when Mohammad Nabi (15) played Mustafizur back onto his stumps. With the run-rate climbing to over 11-an-over Azmatullah Omarzai took 20 run in one over of off-spinner Saif Hasan (0-39).
Azmatullah holed out to Saif after scoring a rapid 30 off 15 balls and Rashid briefly challenged Bangladesh with a quickfire 20 off 11 balls before Mustafizur had him caught at short third in the penultimate over.
With 22 needed off the final over, Noor smashed two straight sixes to Taskin Ahmed (2-34) but holed out at mid-off of the final ball.
Tanzid stars with half-century
Tanzid Hasan’s brisk 52 off 31 balls formed the cornerstone of Bangladesh innings.
Saif and Tanzid gave Bangladesh a strong start of 63 runs off 40 balls. Bangladesh was set for a strong finish when it reached 87-1 in 10 overs, but the middle overs of Noor and Ahmad pulled them back.
Saif fell soon after the powerplay when he missed a sweep against Rashid and was clean bowled while Tanzid holed out to Ibrahim at long-off in the 13th over as Afghanistan went on to concede only 30 runs in the death overs.
Bangladesh stays alive in Asia Cup with thrilling win over Afghanistan
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Bangladesh stays alive in Asia Cup with thrilling win over Afghanistan
- Afghanistan now needs to beat Group B leader Sri Lanka in its last group game as three teams are still in contention to get the final two spots for the next round
- Bangladesh’s ploy to field Nasum in place of Mahedi Hasan worked out perfectly
Inter continue Scudetto march after Champions League humbling
- Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan bounced back from Champions League elimination with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa which continued their march toward the Serie A title.
Federico Dimarco’s brilliant volley just after the half-hour mark and Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty were enough for Inter to extend their already huge lead over AC Milan at the top of the table to 13 points.
Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto.
Inter, whose fans unloaded a collection of anti-Milan chants in anticipation of the derby, have dropped just two points in 15 league matches and have been a cut above the rest in Italy’s top flight this season.
Their domestic dominance comes in stark contrast to the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
A 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows cast doubts over not just the quality of Cristian Chivu’s team but of Italian football as a whole.
There was plenty of quality in Dimarco’s opener however, the Italy full-back beautifully placing a first-time finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Little else happened in a humdrum encounter until Alex Amorim handled a cross from Luis Henrique, whose shot had been tipped onto the post just moments before.
Calhanoglu calmly stroked home the spot-kick on his return to action following niggling muscle problems which have caused him issues since before Christmas, sealing the points for Inter.
Big Rom back
Romelu Lukaku kept Napoli on course for a Champions League spot with a last-gasp winner in the champions’ 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Verona, the Belgium forward’s first goal of the season.
Lukaku forced home Giovane’s cross to snatch the win for third-placed Napoli with the last kick of the game at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Napoli had looked like dropping points in northern Italy when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro levelled Rasmus Hojlund’s early opener in the 65th minute.
But Lukaku, who only played his first game of the season in late January, gave Napoli a huge win with both Como and Atalanta pushing for a top-four placing.
“I was a dead player before coming here,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“This season has been difficult, but we’ve got to aim high.”
Napoli’s title defense is all but over as they trail Inter by 14 points after an injury-ravaged season.
Napoli were missing key midfielders Scott McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa on Saturday, as well as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Verona, under interim coach Paolo Sammarco following the sacking of Paolo Zanetti earlier this month, are 10 points from safety after a 12th straight match without a win.
Como, who face Inter in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday, strolled to 3-1 victory over strugglers Lecce to continue their push for a first-ever qualification for European football.
Cesc Fabregas’s team are two points behind Roma, in fourth and Juventus’ opponents on Sunday, and five behind Napoli.
Como are also two points ahead of sixth-placed Juve who face Roma trying to stay in touch with the Champions League places after being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition by Galatasaray on Wednesday.
