Asia Cup 2023: Bangladesh set 335-run target for Afghanistan

Lahore: Bangladesh on Sunday set a target of 335 runs for Afghanistan in must-win Group B clash at Ghaddafi stadium in Lahore.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 112 off 119 balls, Najmul Hossain Shanto also made 104 runs off 105 balls while Mohammad Naim contributed 28 runs to lead their side to a strong position.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz ….Grit, guts, glory! ??#BCB | #Cricket | #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/2iXE3SspvS

— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) September 3, 2023

The Afghanistan bowlers could not restrain the Bangladesh batters who continued to make runs since the beginning.

Earlier,  Bangladesh won the toss in their must-win Group B clash against Afghanistan and opted to bat on a hot afternoon in Lahore.

It was the first time that Afghanistan were playing an international game in Pakistan.

Bangladesh, who lost their opening game of the Asia Cup to Sri Lanka, handed an ODI debut to allrounder Shamim Hossein, who had  17 T20I caps. Hossein was among three changes made by Bangladesh, with another allrounder Afif Hossein and fast bowler Hasan Mahmud also coming into the XI. Tanzid Hasan, Mahedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman were the three players that made way.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was slated to open for Bangladesh, the first time he was going to perform the role since the 2018 Asia Cup final.

Afghanistan also made three changes to their XI from the last time they played an ODI, with batters Rahmat Shah and Najibullah Zadran and allrounder Karim Janat replacing Riaz Hassan, Shahidullah and Fareed Ahmad.

Afghanistan recently won a bilateral ODI series 2-1 in Bangladesh and were hunting a victory that would take them into the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup.

Playing XI:

Bangladesh: 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Afif Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Hasan Mahmud

Afghanistan XI: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Karim Janat, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi