After being unable to defend ten runs in the last over in their previous game against Pakistan, the Afghan side needing eight to win off six balls at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi fell short by an agonising three runs against Bangladesh on Sunday. With Bangladesh setting Afghanistan a 250-run target, the game ebbed and flowed in both directions all through before Mohammad Nabi (38 in 28) and Samiullah Shenwari (23* in 19) got their side to the brink. But, left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman once again proved why he is rated so highly in world cricket as he delivered a nerveless last over to keep his side alive in the tournament and set up a virtual semi-final clash against Pakistan on Wednesday.
“End of the match, Mustafiz was a magician,” said the Bangladesh captain at the post-match presentation ceremony. “We have lost so many matches where we couldn’t score 8-9 runs but we defended it today.
“We hadn’t given up – Shakib bowled really well in his last three balls. After that, we told Mustafiz to look for wickets because they would have missed it.
“Mustafiz cramped a bit, we wanted him to bowl 10 overs but he couldn’t. Couldn’t even bowl yorkers because he had a cramp in his calf. Hopefully, we’ll have a good crack at the virtual semi-final.”
For the Afghanistan camp, it was yet another heartbreak.
“Painful game. 8 off 6 is not difficult because Rashid, Nabi, Shenwari can do it. But I will give credit to him (Mustafizur Rahman), he bowled his variations,” said captain Asghar.
