Bangladesh cricket team kicked off their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign in style as they beat Afghanistan by a comprehensive margin of six wickets at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on Saturday.
Two three-wicket hauls from Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedi Hasan Miraz and two fifties from the latter and Najmul Hossain Shanto enabled Bangladesh to start their World Cup campaign on the best possible note.
An inspired performance with the ball saw Bangladesh bowl out Afghnistan for just 156 and that total was never going to be enough as Shakib Al Hasan's side cruised to victory in the 35th over. Shakib Al Hasan (3/30), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (3/25), and Shoriful Islam (2/34) starred with the ball.
Miraz followed his three scalps with 57 while Najmul Hossain Shanto continued his rich vein of form hitting 59 not out as Bangladesh cantered to the victory in just 34.4 overs, making 158-4.
With this win, Tigers start their World Cup mission on a winning note and bag their first two points. They didn't put a foot wrong and were clearly the superior side. They bowled beautifully and restricted Afghanistan to a mere total. With no scoreboard pressure, Bangladesh were not in a rush to get over the line and played smartly, building small partnerships and being patient against the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi.
As for Afghanistan, their bowling was spot on, but once again, with not enough runs on the board, they faced an uphill battle. Afghanistan will have some questions to ask of their top and middle order, which couldn't capitalize after getting a decent start and they didn't really bat with much intelligence and discipline, playing rash shots and not laying a platform for a decent total which eventually hurt them in their opening game. However, this is still the nascent stage of the tournament and we all know they will come back from this early jolt and challenge all the other teams.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh showed a lot of mettle and didn't let emotions get better of them while chasing the target and were quite mature and level-headed in their approach. Scintillating half-centuries from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto will inspire plenty of confidence in the team that looks confident and is raring to pursue their quest to win the World Cup.