Bangladesh stays alive in Asia Cup with thrilling win over Afghanistan
Afghanistan now needs to beat Group B leader Sri Lanka in its last group game as three teams are still in contention to get the final two spots for the next roundBangladesh’s ploy to field Nasum in place of Mahedi Hasan worked out perfectlyABU DHABI: Bangladesh notched a thrilling eight-run victory over Afghanistan in a must-win game and stayed alive for the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup on Tuesday.Afghanistan now needs to beat Group B leader Sri Lanka in its last group game as three teams are still in contention to get the final two spots for the next round.Bangladesh spinners Nasum Ahmed (2-11) and Rishad Hossain (2-18) stifled Afghanistan’s top-order batters before left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman (3-28) knocked out the tailenders in the death overs to bowl out the opposition for 146 off the final ball.Earlier, Afghanistan slow bowlers also squeezed Bangladesh in the middle-overs with Noor Ahmad and captain Rashid Khan sharing four wickets for 49 runs and restricted them to 154-5.Bangladesh brilliant with the ballBangladesh’s ploy to field Nasum in place of Mahedi Hasan worked out perfectly as the left-arm spinner trapped Sediqullah Atal leg before wicket off the very first ball with the new ball and went on to bowl a wicket maiden over.Nasum’s three overs in the powerplay pinned down Afghanistan to 27-2 as he also accounted for the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, who struggled for 12 deliveries and could score only 5.Top-scorer Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35) held one end up, but Rishad’s two quick wickets saw Afghanistan slipping to 62-4 by the halfway stage as Gurbaz swept straight to backward square where Jaker Ali took a well-judged catch.Afghanistan had lost half of its side for 77 runs in 13 overs when Mohammad Nabi (15)