AFG vs BAN: The Asia Cup which is being played in the UAE is nothing but a dress rehearsal for the T20I World Cup that will be played in Australia later this year. The multi-nation tournament that was initially planned to be played in Sri Lanka is now being hosted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) owing to the financial crisis that has plagued the island nation. The Asia Cup which consists of teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong is expected to be a hard-fought tournament and will give the participating teams enough game time before they head into the T20I World Cup.
On August 30, 2022, Afghanistan took on Bangladesh in the second match of Group B. The Mohammad Nabi-led side was coming off a win against host Sri Lanka and had their spirits high. The Afghanistan team was eyeing a direct qualification after defeating Shakib Al Hasan's Bangladesh. Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan tore into the Bangladesh batting and kept scalping wickets at regular intervals. Apart from Mosaddek Hossain who scored 48* off 31 deliveries, no Bangladesh batsman stayed at the crease and made a notable contribution for the scorer. Courtesy of Hossain's heroics, Bangladesh somehow reached a total of 127.
When Afghanistan came out to bat, they couldn't start decently. The Bangladesh bowlers were making life extremely tough for the Afghanistan batsman and had left them reeling on 62/3. To Bangladesh's dismay, Najibullah Zadran walked in with 63 to get off 36 balls. Zadran made the most out of Sharjah's small boundaries and struck a quickfire 43* off 17 deliveries. He scored at a strike rate of 252.94 and struck 6 sixes and 1 boundary and helped Afghanistan win the match by 7 wickets and qualify for super 4.
Here is how Twitter hailed Zadran:
Bangladesh XI: Mohammad Naim, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman
Afghanistan XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi(c), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
