Afghanistan bowlers blow away Bangladesh challenge
Rahmat Shah scored a half-century as Bangladesh were knocked out of the tri-series
Led by destructive opening spells from Yamin Ahmadzai and Azmatullah Omarzai, and an unbeaten half-century by skipper Rahmat Shah, Afghanistan secured a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh, knocking them out of the 2026 ODI tri-series in the UAE.
After Bangladesh elected to bat, they suffered a disastrous start against Afghanistan’s opening attack. Yamin Ahmadzai struck early by removing Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Soumya Sarkar in consecutive deliveries of his opening over. Azmatullah Omarzai then got rid of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy to reduce Bangladesh to 28 for 4 inside seven overs.
Parvez Hossain Emon and Saif Hassan staged a recovery with a 93-run partnership for the fifth wicket, bringing some stability to the innings. However, Mohammad Nabi broke the stand by dismissing Saif Hassan for 41. Shortly after, Rashid Khan joined the party to clean up the tail in no time.
None of the lower order batters offered any resistance either as Bangladesh slipped from 121/4 to 160 all-out inside the next 10 overs, with Rashid returning figures of 4 for 31 from his 8.2 overs. Emon eventually top-scored for Bangladesh with a hard-fought 70 off 96 balls before falling LBW to Rashid, and Bangladesh's innings folded for 160 runs in 41.2 overs.
Chasing a modest target, Afghanistan lost opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (6) and No. 3 Sediqullah Atal (4) early to Taskin Ahmed, leaving them at 39 for 2 in the seventh over. However, Rahmat dropped anchor to put the chase back on track.
Ibrahim Zadran contributed a solid 34 off 48 balls before falling to Mustafizur Rahman, having played his part in the recovery through a 56-run stand with the captain. Rahmat then took control of the run chase, composing a steady 67 not out off 90 balls, as he stitched another 66-run partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi, who remained unbeaten on 36. The duo guided Afghanistan home in 35.3 overs with seven wickets to spare, setting up the finale with Zimbabwe.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 160 in 41.2 overs (Parvez Hossain Emon 70, Saif Hassan 41; Rashid Khan 4-31, Yamin Ahmadzai 2-21, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-27) lost to Afghanistan 161/3 in 35.3 overs (Rahmat Shah 67*, Hashmatullah Shahidi 36*, Ibrahim Zadran 34; Taskin Ahmed 2-36) by 7 wickets
