Bangladesh held their nerve to beat Afghanistan by 8 runs and stay in contention for a Super Four spot, though their qualification fate still hangs in the balance.
Chasing 155, Afghanistan looked threatening when Azmatullah Omarzai blasted 20 runs off Saif Hasan in the 14th over. But disciplined spells from Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman in the death overs sealed the contest. The Afghans were bowled out for 146, finishing agonisingly short despite Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s fighting 35.
Nasum struck with his very first delivery to remove Sediqullah Atal, while the Afghan top order stumbled to 27 for 2 inside the powerplay. After Gurbaz’s dismissal following the drinks break, the chase unravelled. Nasum (2/9) and Rishad Hossain (2/18) squeezed the middle overs, Taskin claimed two scalps, and Mustafizur delivered under pressure with 3/28.
Earlier, Bangladesh rode on Tanjid Hasan’s blistering 52 off 31 balls, which gave them a flying start. But Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad applied the brakes, restricting Bangladesh to a total that looked below par at the halfway mark.
The win lifted Bangladesh to second place in Group B with four points from three matches. But their net run rate remains in the red at –0.270, leaving qualification uncertain. Afghanistan, with one match left against Sri Lanka, sit third with two points but boast a strong net run rate of +2.150. A victory for Afghanistan in that fixture would leave all three teams level on points, with net run rate deciding the semifinalists.
For now, Bangladesh live to fight another day—thanks to a collective bowling effort and Tanjid’s match-winning knock, which earned him the Player of the Match award.