Mehidy Hasan Miraz starred with both bat and ball as Bangladesh launched their World Cup campaign with a dominant six-wicket win over Afghanistan in Dharamsala on Saturday. The off-spinner took 3-25 as Afghanistan were bowled out for just 156.
Mehidy then made 57 after being dropped twice, with fellow 25-year-old Nojmul Hossain Shanto finishing on 59 not out as Bangladesh won with more than 15 overs to spare.
This match also saw Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan inflict more World Cup damage on Afghanistan, the left-arm spinner taking 3-30 while his bowling changes yielded wickets. Afghanistan, relatively well-placed at 47-1 and 112-2 after being sent into bat by Shakib, lost their last eight wickets for 44 runs. Saturday’s defeat comes after Afghanistan lost all nine matches at the 2019 World Cup.
Scoreboard
Afghanistan
R. Gurbaz c Tanzid b Mustafizur 47
I. Zadran c Tanzid b Shakib 22
R. Shah c Liton b Shakib 18
H. Shahidi c Hridoy b Mehidy 18
N. Zadran b Shakib 5
M. Nabi b Taskin 6
A. Omarzai b Shoriful 22
R. Khan b Mehidy 9
M. Rahman b Mehidy 1
N. Haq c Hridoy b Shoriful 0
F. Farooqi not out 0
Extras (w8) 8
Total (all out, 37.2 overs) 156
Fall of wickets: 1-47 (Ibrahim), 2-83 (Shah), 3-112 (Shahidi), 4-112 (Gurbaz), 5-122 (Najibullah), 6-126 (Nabi), 7-150 (Rashid), 8-156 (Omarzai), 9-156 (Mujeeb), 10-156 (Naveed)
Bowling: Taskin 6-0-32-1 (1w); Shoriful 6.2-1-34-2 (2w); Mustafizur 7-1-28-1; Shakib 8-0-30-3; Mehidy 9-3-25-3 (1w); Mahmudullah 1-0-7-0

Bangladesh
T. Hasan run out 5
L. Das b Farooqi 13
M. Miraz c Rahmat b Naveen-ul-Haq 57
N. Hossain Shanto not out 59
S. Hasan c Farooqi b Omarzai 14
M. Rahim not out 2
Extras (lb3, nb1, w4) 8
Total (4 wkts, 34.4 overs) 158
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Tanzid), 2-27 (Liton), 3-124 (Mehidy), 4-146 (Shakib)
Bowling: Farooqi 5-0-19-1; Mujeeb 7-0-30-0; Naveen 5.4-0-31-1 ; Rashid 9-0-48-0; Nabi 6-1-18-0; Omarzai 2-0-9-1.