All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan proved his class as Bangladesh cruised to a comfortable 62-run win over Afghanistan in their ICC World Cup match at Southampton, England, Monday.
Al Hasan first hit a half-century as Bangladesh rattled up 262 for seven on a difficult pitch, then returned career ODI best figures of five wickets for 29 runs as the Afghans were restricted to 200 all out.
After the Afghans made a comfortable start, Al Hasan rooted out the heart of the batting with the wickets of opposing skipper Gulbadin Naib (47), Rahmat Shah (24), Asghar Afghan (20) and Mohammad Nabi for a two-ball duck to leave the opposition reeling at 117 for five.
From there it was an uphill battle for the Afghans as the run rate kept increasing and their lower order batsmen could not keep up.
Naib’s 75-ball 47 with three fours was the best batting for Afghanistan.
In the process, Al Hasan also became only the second player to score a 50 and take five wickets in a World Cup game. India's Yuvraj Singh also did the same with five wickets for 31 runs and exactly 50 runs against Ireland at the 2011 World Cup.
The win pushed Bangladesh to fifth place on the 10-team table, one behind fourth-placed hosts England. New Zealand (11 pts), Australia (10 pts) and India (9 pts) make up the top three, while Sri Lanka are sixth with six points and the Afghans remain rooted to the bottom of the table without a win in the tournament. England and Australia meet in a top of the table clash at Lord’s Tuesday.
Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim hit an 87-ball 83 with four fours and a six to guide Bangladesh to a defendable target on a tricky wicket which the Afghan spinners took advantage of.
Rahim shared in three vital partnerships of 61 with Al Hasan (51), 56 with Mahmudullah (27) and 44 with Mosaddek Hossain, who slammed a vital 35 from 24 deliveries to give the innings late impetus before he was bowled by Gulbadin Naib off the last ball.
Teenage off-break bowler Mujeeb Ur Rahman took three wickets for 39 runs, including the key dismissal of the in-form Al Hasan lbw for a 69-ball 51. Al Hasan reached his fifth half-century in the tournament and is now its leading run scorer with 476 runs in six innings.
Naib also picked up two wickets for 56 runs for the Afghans.
SUMMARISED SCORES:
BANGLADESH 262-7 (50) (Mushfiqur Rahim 83, Shakeeb Al Hasan 51, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/39, Gulbadin Naib 2/56) v AFGHANISTAN 200 (47) (Gulbadin Naib 47, Shakib Al Hasan 5/29, Mustafizur Rahman 2/32)
Result: BANGLADESH WON BY 62 RUNS