Emon’s 70 in vain as Rashid’s 4/31 sends Afghanistan into UAE tri-series final

Parvez Hossain Emon produced the only sustained resistance of Bangladesh’s evening in Sharjah, but his 70 could not save his side. Afghanistan cruised to a seven-wicket win in the third match of the UAE ODI Tri-Series on Wednesday, 21 October, knocking Bangladesh out of the tournament without a win.

The result sets up a final between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday, 23 October. Contrary to some social media chatter, Pakistan are not part of this event; the three-team, 50-over competition features only Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Emon holds the innings together

Bangladesh, led by Towhid Hridoy in the absence of the injured Litton Das, chose to bat after winning the toss. The decision backfired almost at once. Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Hridoy himself were all back in the hut inside seven overs, with the score on 28 for four according to two match reports (a third put it at 38 for four).

Emon, the left-handed top-order batter who has been the most-searched name from the match in India, then rebuilt with Saif Hassan. The pair added 93 for the fifth wicket, with Emon reaching his half-century off 75 balls. He finished with 70 from 96 deliveries, hitting five fours and two sixes, while Saif ground out 41 from 82 balls before falling to Mohammad Nabi while trying to go big.

Once that stand was broken, the lower order folded quickly. Bangladesh lost their last five wickets for 39 runs and were dismissed for 160 in 41.2 overs.

Rashid Khan turns the screw

Rashid Khan, named Player of the Match, returned 4 for 31 from 8.2 overs, his eighth four-wicket haul in ODIs. His most important strike was trapping Emon leg before, and he also removed Shoriful Islam, Aliss Al Islam and Mustafizur Rahman. Yamin Ahmadzai (2 for 21) and Azmatullah Omarzai (2 for 27) gave him solid support.

“Emon was playing so well at that time,” Rashid said afterwards, adding that removing him was crucial for his side.

Bangladesh briefly sensed a contest when Taskin Ahmed removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz (6) and Sediqullah Atal (4), leaving Afghanistan at 39 for two after seven overs. Taskin ended with 2 for 36. But Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran (34) steadied the chase before Mustafizur dismissed Zadran, and Rahmat then shared an unbroken stand of 66 with Hashmatullah Shahidi.

Rahmat remained unbeaten on 67 off 90 balls and Shahidi on 36 as Afghanistan reached 161 for three in 35.3 overs, with 87 balls to spare.

What it means for the final

Bangladesh needed a big win, roughly 41 runs or more batting first by pre-match calculations, to overtake Zimbabwe on net run rate. Their 99-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the opening game of the series had left them with little margin for error, and they leave the UAE winless.

Afghanistan, by contrast, go into Friday’s final unbeaten, having also thrashed Zimbabwe by 158 runs on 19 October. Zimbabwe qualified as the second side on the back of their win over Bangladesh.

Rashid struck a confident note ahead of the title clash, saying his side wanted to keep playing positive cricket for as long as possible.

Reports differed on who led Afghanistan in this match: two outlets described Rahmat Shah as captain while one named Shahidi, and The Daily Rostrum could not independently confirm which was correct.

Sources

• The Sports Encounter: 4-Star Rashid Khan Helps Afghanistan Kick Bangladesh Out of UAE ODI Tri-Series as Zimbabwe Await in Final
• Daily Waadaa: Bangladesh humbled by Afghanistan, end tri-series winless
• A Sports: Bangladesh eliminated as Afghanistan, Zimbabwe reach tri-series final
• NewsBytes: Afghanistan beat Bangladesh to reach ODI Tri-Series final: Key stats
• The Sports Encounter: UAE ODI Tri-Series: Bangladesh Face NRR Test vs Afghanistan