@Nasum celebrates after taking the wicket of Sadiqullah Atal vs Afganistan in Asia Cup 2025
Match Overview:
- Match: Group B, Asia Cup 2025, BAN vs AFG.
- Date & Venue: 16 September, 2025, the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi.
- Result: Bangladesh won by 8 runs. The Afghanistan had been all out 146 in pursuit of 155.
Bangladesh Innings:
Bangladesh elect to bat first and got 154/ runs in 20 overs
Key contributions:
- Tanzid Hasan had a match-defining innings 52 off 31 balls.
- Saif Hassan contributed well with 30 off 28 balls.
- Lower down also provided some assistance through donations (although none of significant size individually) that kept up the momentum and carried to a defendable figure.
Afghanistan Chase:
- Afghanistan needed 155 runs to Win
- They began off badly, especially in the powerplay:
- Nasum Ahmed struck Sediqullah Atal with the first ball to get a golden duck.
- During such an initial stage, there had been only 27 runs, and two wickets had been lost.
Key Afghan batters:
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz had made a good knock:35 out of 31 hits.
- Azmatullah OmarzaiWith 30 out of 16 hits, brought some hope to Afghanistan with some big hits.
- Rashid Khan too contributed 20 out of 11. By this time though pressure was building and the target was on the climb.
- With the innings remaining in the last over , Afghanistan were attempting to make up previous sluggish run-scoring. The required rate had shot up.
Bowling and Fielding Highlights:
- Bangladesh relied on Mustafizur Rahman to get the crucial few overs in which to die. He picked up 3 wickets for 28 runs. His enchantment, particularly towards the conclusion, was essential.
- Nasum Ahmed enjoyed a fantastic start spell - breaking early through and making Afghanistan play on the back foot. Ended with figures 2 for 11.
- Rishad Hossain also played a good middle overs bowling with 2 wickets and contributed to the blockage of the run flow.
- Taskin Ahmed had a role to play as well- in the wicket making situation in the final overs.
- Fielding was an exception as well. It was ricocheted, run out, and, most significantly, good death-over pressure. Afghanistan was ready to have boundaries but could not entirely have them.
Turning Points:
- Early Wickets: Atal first ball is out and then the second, Ibrahim Zadran etc. The run chase was difficult due to these initial hits
- Middle Overs Spin Control: The spinners of Bangladesh (particularly Rishad Hossain) strangled the Afghani batters who could not get easy runs.
- Death Over Pressure: Mustafizur had taken the death, along with the works of Taskin, which suffocated what Afghanistan required in the last 2-3 overs.
- Big Hits vs Timely Wickets: As Omarzai and Rashid provided moments of hope, their wickets at the moment they were needed the most ruined the momentum. There was also a single or two big catches / fielding efforts that would make a marginal difference.
Implications & Context:
- This is an important win to Bangladesh: it did not eliminate their chances to stay in the Super 4s.They would have been probably killed off by a defeat.
Points table wise:
- This victory saw Bangladesh having 4 points out of three matches.
- After this match, Afghanistan was at 2 points, although there was one match remaining.
- Net run rate also comes into the focus: that of Bangladesh was negative even after it won.
- On the part of Afghanistan, it was a game that they held much of the ground but failed to seal it. Their batting was promising, but poor timing of wickets and failure to score consistently under pressure were the problems of their batting.
Player of the Match:
- Nasum Ahmed was named Player of the Match because of his bowling, the early powerplay, and the pennywise spell which posed early pressure.
Summary:
Overall, Bangladesh won a narrow and close-contest. Their appearances provided them a sufficient amount to counter-attack, even though they did not make an insurmountably large score. The heavy lifting was done by the bowlers, among them Mustafizur, Nasum, Rishad and Taskin. Afghanistan had opportunities, and Omarzai and Rashid Khan gave some chance, but unfortunately, they failed to reach it. In the end, the fielding, pressure and match situation came in favour of Bangladesh.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 154/5 in 20 overs ( Tanzid Hasan Tamim 52, Saif Hassan 30; Noor Ahmad 2-23, Rashid Khan 2-26) beat Afghanistan 146 in 20 overs ( Rahmanullah Gurbaz 35, Azmatullah Omarzai 30; Mustafizur Rahman 3-28, Nasum Ahmed 2-11, Rishad Hossain 2-18) by 8 Runs.