Abu Dhabi (UAE), Sep 16 (IANS) Tanzid Hasan’s half-century steered Bangladesh to 154/5 in 20 overs against Afghanistan in a Group B encounter of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, here on Tuesday.

Opting to bat first, the Bangladesh openers gave them a flying start with Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan making the most of the Power-play. The batting side could only manage eight runs in the first two overs without a boundary before Tanzid hammered four boundaries of Fazalhaq Farooqi’s over. Saif too joined the bandwagon, hitting a six off AM Ghazanfar before smashing a four in Azmatullah Omarzai’s next over.

The final over of the field restrictions brought a lot of joy for Tanzid as he launched Ghazanfar for two maximums to accumulate 19 from the over. Bangladesh were looking solid with a score of 59 for no loss after six overs. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan gave the first breakthrough to his side, cleaning up Saif for 30 in the seventh over.

Bangladesh captain Litton Das joined Tanzid in the middle. The fall of a wicket brought two tight overs for Afghanistan before Tanzid smacked a six over deep backward square-leg to move into the 40s. Bangladesh reached 87/1 at the halfway mark.

Right after the drinks break, Noor Ahmad made an instant impact with his very first ball, trapping Bangladesh captain Litton Das plumb in front. The tossed-up delivery around leg beat the attempted sweep, and a successful review confirmed three reds, sending the skipper back early.

Meanwhile, Tanzid completed his half-century in 28 balls before hitting Noor for a six to bring up 100 for Bangladesh in the 13th over. Later in the same over, Noor struck again, dismissing Tanzid for 52, an innings that featured three sixes and four boundaries. Shamim Hossain and Towhid Hridoy were trying to keep the scoreboard ticking, and the former hit two fours off Rashid Khan in the 14th over before striking Noor for a boundary in the next over as Bangladesh were 119/3 after 15 overs.

Rashid Khan cut short Shamim’s innings for 11 in the 16th over to restrict Bangladesh from scoring big in the death overs. In the penultimate over, Omarzai dismissed Hridoy after scoring 26 as Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan played identical knocks of 12 each to drag Bangladesh to 154/5 in 20 overs.

For Afghanistan, spinners Rashid and Noor bagged two scalps each to contain Bangladesh after getting a solid start.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh 154/5 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 52, Saif Hassan 30; Noor Ahmad 2-23, Rashid Khan 2-26) against Afghanistan.

—IANS

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