Leg-spinner Rashid Khan celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring a half century and taking two wickets as Afghanistan upset Bangladesh by 136 runs in the last league match of Asia Cup 2018 on Th♒ursday.
Rashid smashed unbeaten 57 off 32 balls with the help of eight fours and a six to guide Afghanistan to an imposing 255-7 after their captain Asghar Afghan won the toss and decided to bat first at Sh💮eikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabhi.
Rashid then finished with 2/13 in nine overs and also effected a run out, claiming the prized wickꦿets of Shakib Al Hasan (32) and Mahmudullah Riya✱d (27).
The ﷺAfghans bowled out Bangladesh for just 119 in 42.1 over🤪s. It was their second astonishing victory in the tournament following a 91-run win over Sri Lanka which sent the islanders crashing out in the first round.
Also, this score of 119 was Bangladesh’s lowest total against Afghanistan by some distance — their previous lowest against the Afghans was 208 in Dhaka two years ago.
Earlier, Hashmatullah Shahidi hit a 92-ball 58 with three fours to revive Afghanistan🌳 after they were jolted by left-arm s꧒pinner Shakib who finished with 4-42 in his ten overs.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Such a joy to watch this wonderfully gifted and talented Afghanis🍰tan team! They have made incredible progress in such a short time. A real force in white ball formats, the cricketing world 🅘must watch out.
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial)
Afghanistan well and truly announced them In A Class of 🍰World Cricket in this . After Sri Lanka now they out class Bangladesh by 136 runs. Good Luck Team Pakista🌠n.
— Abdul Ghaffar 🇵🇰 (@GhaffarDawnNews)
Congrats on another comprehenไsive win. Good all round performance by the birthday boy Keep it up.
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281)
🇦🇫 have smashed 🇧🇩 like.
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS)
Rashid Khan is first player in ODI h🔯istory to score 50 and take 2 wickets on his birthday.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad)
//tw🅰itter.com/JagratiShukla29/status/1042849649004929024
Not just the 🐟top T20 bowler but ♊now laying claim to being called an all-rounder. Way to go, young man
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
There’s no dead rubber for Afghanistan….every game is a celebration from them. First Sri Lanka and Now, Bangladesh. If they win two out of the three tosses in Super-4, they will reach the finals.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Its second nature to root for the ♓underdog, but can’t real🍃ly figure out who the underdog is.
— Roha Nadeem (@RohaNadym)
Good job Afghanistan. Good lads. Taaliyan!!!!!
Underestimated maybe, by Bangladesh?— Boman Irani (@bomanirani)
Not ju😼st the top T20 bowler but now 💟laying claim to being called an all-rounder. Way to go, young man
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
There’s a major power shift occurring for cricket in the subcontinent. And by the looks of it, it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future.. Well done – Topped the ‘group of death’
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru)
This Asia Cup is a joke, and just a silly cover to contrive a 3-match India-Pakistan bilateral series in the Gulf. Only brave Afghanistan c🐽an upset this. Let’s hope they do
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta)
Unbelievable! Afghanistan w𒁃on Bangladesh by 136 runs. Well done, Blue Tigers.𝄹
— Ehsanullah Amiri (@euamiri)
