Rashid ravages Tigers

Afghan leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan added an unexpected cameo with the bat to his customary incisiveness with the ball to help Afghanistan blow away Bangladesh by 136 runs in the final Asia Cup Group B match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday. The heavy defeat meant Bangladesh finished second in the group, although that had already been a foregone conclusion as the Asian Cricket Council had broken with convention and named the fixtures for the second round after the identity of the qualifiers were determined on September 18.

Rashid, on his 20th birthday, was near unplayable during Bangladesh's chase of 256 with the wickets of and Mahmudullah Riyad, the two remaining senior batsmen in the side after Tamim Iqbal went home with a fractured left hand and Mushfiqur Rahim was given a break to advance his recovery from a rib injury for today's Super Four match against India. Ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman was also rested to be fresh for the India match.

Both Afghanistan and Bangladesh will have very little time to recuperate from playing in the desert heat as the former will take on Pakistan at the same venue today while Bangladesh will face off against defending champions India in Dubai. Of yesterday's combatants, Bangladesh will be the worse off because they would have had their confidence as well as their stamina severely dented.

After hitting a 32-ball 57, Rashid took two for 13 in nine mystifying overs to speed Bangladesh's demise to a sorry 119 all out. He also added a run-out to his string of accomplishments in the match, running back off his own bowling and hitting the stumps with a direct hit to catch ninth man and debutant Abu Hider short of his crease. Last man Rubel Hossain was then trapped in front for a first-ball duck by Afghanistan's other young sensation, teenager Mujeeb Ur Rahman. 

Afghanistan's total of 255 for seven owed much to Rashid's heroics with the bat as he slammed a 32-ball 57 after coming in at number nine, helping his team plunder 97 runs in the last 10 overs.

For the first 40 overs of the match, in front of a vociferous expatriate Bangladeshi crowd that stormed what was thus far known as an Afghan stronghold, Bangladesh had dominated proceedings, restricting their lower-ranked opposition to 160 for seven in 40.5 overs when all-rounder Shakib AL Hasan took his fourth wicket by dismissing Mohammad Nabi to bring Rashid in. In those 40 overs, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe marshalled his bowlers well, using eight of them to lessen the load on the regular bowlers with the India match in mind.

Hider, making his debut in place of Mustafizur Rahman, enjoyed early success by getting opener Ihsanullah Janat and Rahmat Shah inside the first 10 overs. Their run rate was not allowed to pick up as Shakib cut through the middle order with the wickets of opener Shahzad, Asghar Afghan Samiullah Shenwari and Nabi. Only Hasmatullah Shahidi resisted among the top order batsmen with a patient 58 that was ended by Rubel Hossain in the 38th over to leave them at 150 for six.

However, on a pitch that was slower than the one Bangladesh played their first match on in Dubai, Mashrafe erred in bringing the pacers back in the final 10 overs. Rashid found pace on the ball and – along with Gulbadin Naib's 38-ball 42 in an unbroken 95-run partnership -- laid the bowling to waste. On a rare off day, Mashrafe was the most expensive bowler, conceding 67 runs in eight overs.

"Maybe I was a little confused at that stage, also thinking about tomorrow's [Friday's] match," said Mashrafe after the match when asked whether he could have bowled more spinners in the last 10 overs. "I could have bowled [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz, who had two overs left. I was a little confused about whether to bowl myself or not."

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, centre, had his share of the spotlight in an Asia Cup dead rubber against Afghanistan yesterday. But it was completely overshadowed by Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who with a brilliant all-rounder show fashioned a massive 136 run win at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Photo: AFP

Even so, 256 was chaseable on the wicket and despite the wheels coming off in the last 10 overs of bowling, perhaps the most disappointing aspect was the lack of depth in batting as the absences of Mushfiqur and Tamim completely exposed the lineup.

Debutant Nazmul Hossain Shanto, replacing Tamim's big shoes, did not have an auspicious start as he was first out caught off Mujeeb. Mominul Haque, coming back to the ODI side after more than three years to replace Mushfiqur, did not do himself any favours as he chased a Naib delivery down the leg side and was caught behind. Mohammad Mithun, who hit 63 in the first match, left bat and pad agape to be bowled off the inside edge.

At 43 for four, Shakib and Mahmudullah came together, but there were to be no heroics as they were completely tied down by Rashid's guile. Mahmudullah in particular had no clue about which way the ball was turning. After Shakib was trapped in front in the 24th over for the team-highest score of 32, Mahmudullah was sixth man out for 27 when a googly did not turn as much as he expected and took out his off stump with the score on 90.   

The fight had utterly left Bangladesh by then, in the end proving that it was the less experienced Afghanistan who dealt better with the fixtures controversy