Bangladesh clung on by the skin of their teeth on Tuesday night, pulling off an eight-run win over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi to keep their Asia Cup hopes alive.
It was scrappy, tense, and far closer than it needed to be, but for now Litton Das and his men will take it.
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh began brightly thanks to Tanzid Hasan, who lit up the powerplay with 52 off 31 balls. He looked in full command, launching four fours and three sixes, and alongside Saif Hassan (30) gave Bangladesh exactly the sort of start they had been crying out for in this tournament.
At 63 without loss in the seventh over, they looked on course for something around 180.
But as so often, the innings lost shape. Litton scratched to nine before being trapped by Noor Ahmad. Shamim Hossain fell for 11. Towhid Hridoy briefly countered with 26 from 20 but couldn’t push on.
By the death overs, Bangladesh had slowed alarmingly. Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan managed a few late strokes but 154 for five felt underwhelming, particularly after the flying start.
If there were doubts about the total, Nasum Ahmed helped steady nerves with a dream opening spell. Brought back into the side, he struck with his very first ball, pinning Sediqullah Atal lbw, and then returned to remove Ibrahim Zadran.
His four overs went for just 11 runs and earned him Player of the Match. Afghanistan limped to 27 for two in the powerplay and looked in real trouble.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz tried to wrest back control with 35, but he was undone by Rishad Hossain’s leg-spin just after drinks. Gulbadin Naib (16) and Mohammad Nabi (15) came and went, neither lasting long enough to settle the chase.
Then came the late drama. Azmatullah Omarzai stormed in, hammering three sixes in a rapid 30 off 16 balls that suddenly brought the equation back in Afghanistan’s favour.
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Litton tossed the ball to part-timer Shamim and paid the price as Omarzai went after him. Just as nerves started to jangle, Taskin Ahmed nailed a slower ball to have him caught, and with that the momentum swung again.
Rashid Khan wasn’t done. The captain smashed 20 from 11, keeping Afghanistan’s hopes alive until Mustafizur Rahman produced a trademark off-cutter to end the threat. Still, there was one last twist. Noor Ahmad swung Taskin for back-to-back sixes in the final over, leaving Afghanistan needing 10 from three.
Taskin, ice-cool this time, found his lengths and closed it out. Afghanistan were bowled out for 146, Bangladesh hanging on by eight runs.
Mustafizur finished with three wickets, Taskin and Rishad two apiece, but it was Nasum’s miserly 2 for 11 that set the tone.
Litton admitted afterwards: “We were 15–20 short with the bat. But the bowlers, especially Nasum, gave us a chance.” Rashid called it “a game we should have finished,” blaming his side’s rash shot selection.
The result keeps Bangladesh alive, but only just. Their net run rate is still negative, which means they’ll be praying for Afghanistan to beat Sri Lanka heavily. For now, though, the Tigers live to fight another day.