Birthday boy Rashid Khan smashed a superb unbeaten half-century and shared a 95-run partnership with Gulbadin Naib for the unfinished eighth wicket as Afghanistan made a stunning fightback to post a competitive 255 for seven in its Asia Cup match against Bangladesh here on Thursday.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan was in trouble against a disciplined Bangladesh bowling attack, led by veteran left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan who grabbed four for 42. However, Rashid (57 not out) and Naib (42 not out) made the final 10 overs count with a flurry of boundaries.
The two came together in the 41st over with the score on 160 for seven.
Scoreboard
Afghanistan: Mohd. Shahzad c Hider b Shakib 37 (47b, 4x4) , Ihsanullah c Mithun b Hider 8 (4b, 2x4) , R ahamat Shahb Hider 10 (17b, 1x4) , Hashmatullah Shahidic Liton b Rubel 58 (92b, 3x4) , Asghar Afghan b Shakib 8 (16b) , Samiullah Shenwari b Shakib 18(31b) , Mohd. Nabilbw b Shakib 10 (24b) , Gulbadin Naib (not out) 42 (38b, 5x4) , Rashid Khan (not out) 57 (32b, 8x4, 1x6) ; Extras (b-5, nb-1, w-1): 7; Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs): 255.
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Ihsanullah, 1.4 overs), 2-28 (Rahmat, 5.5), 3-79 (Shahzad, 19.3), 4-101 (Asghar, 25.1), 5-139 (Shenwari, 33.2), 6-150 (Shahidi, 37.1), 7-160 (Nabi, 40.5).
Bangladesh bowling: Rubel 6-1-32-1, Hider 9-1-50-2, Mehidy 8-0-21-0, Mortaza 8-0-67-0, Shakib 10-1-42-4, Mosaddek 4-0-18-0, Mominul 3-0-15-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-5-0.
Toss: Afghanistan.
