Asia Cup 2022: Mujeeb Ur Rahman strikes thrice as Afghanistan leave Bangladesh reeling at Sharjah

Bangladesh got their Asia Cup 2022 campaign off to a rocky start after opting to bat against Afghanistan, whose bowling unit continued from where they left off against Sri Lanka.

Off-spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman played a part in Afghanistan dismantling the Sri Lankan batting lineup on Saturday and three days later, led their charge in the clash against Bangladesh with a three-wicket haul that left the Tigers reeling at the halfway stage.

Mujeeb struck in each of the three overs that he bowled in the powerplay, collecting the wickets of Mohammad Naim, Anamul Haque and star all-rounder and Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan along the way. He castled both Naim and Shakib with the carrom ball and trapped Anamul leg-before in the fourth over, having to overturn the umpire’s decision after it was initially ruled not out.

Things went from bad to worse for the Bangladeshis after star leg-spinner Rashid Khan was introduced after the powerplay. Khan took just two deliveries to make an impact, trapping wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim LBW with a googly, though like Mujeeb he too had to use one of the available reviews to overturn the umpire’s original decision of not out.

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The middle-order pair of Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah somewhat steadied the innings with a 25-run fifth-wicket stand before the former became Khan’s second victim of the evening by getting trapped leg-before for 12. On his way back to the dugout, he ended up burning one of Bangladesh’s available reviews.

Afghanistan earlier got off to a commanding start in the tournament with an eight-wicket thrashing of six-time champions Sri Lanka. Fazalhaq Farooqi led the way for the Afghans with a haul of 3/11 as the Lankans were bundled out for 105. Afghanistan, in reply, chased the target down with eight wickets and nearly 10 overs to spare, thanks mainly to their openers Hazratullah Zazai (37 not out) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (40).

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