Afghanistan’s Cricket World Cup debut against Bangladesh ended in a 105-run defeat on Wednesday.
Bangladesh made 267 in their 50 overs at Canberra's Manuka Oval after winning their toss and electing to bat.
| Runs | Minutes | Balls | 4s | 6s | |||
| A Haque | lbw | b Ashraf | 29 | 67 | 55 | 4 | 0 |
| Tamim Iqbal | c Zazai | b Ashraf | 19 | 58 | 42 | 2 | 0 |
| Sarkar | lbw | b S Zadran | 28 | 52 | 25 | 3 | 1 |
| Mahmudullah | c Zazai | b S Zadran | 23 | 56 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
| Shakib | b Hassan | 63 | 87 | 51 | 6 | 1 | |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | c Shenwari | b Nabi | 71 | 84 | 56 | 6 | 1 |
| Rahman | b Hassan | 3 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mortaza | b Alam | 14 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 0 | |
| M Haque | run out (Zazai) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rubel Hossain | not out | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Taskin Ahmed | b Alam | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 0nb 6w 3b 4lb | 13 | |||||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | |||
| Hassan | 10 | 0 | 61 | 2 | |||
| S Zadran | 7 | 1 | 20 | 2 | |||
| Alam | 9 | 0 | 55 | 2 | |||
| Ashraf | 9 | 3 | 32 | 2 | |||
| Nabi | 9 | 0 | 58 | 1 | |||
| Ahmadi | 4.5 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |||
| Shenwari | 1.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Afghanistan, one of four non-Test playing nations at the World Cup, could only make 162 in their reply in the Pool A match.
| Runs | Minutes | Balls | 4s | 6s | |||
| Ahmadi | c and b Mortaza | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zazai | lbw | b Rubel Hossain | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Mangal | c Rubel Hossain | b Mahmudullah | 27 | 88 | 57 | 1 | 0 |
| Stanikzai | c Mahmudullah | b Mortaza | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Shenwari | run out (Rahman) | 42 | 92 | 75 | 2 | 0 | |
| Nabi | c Sarkar | b Mortaza | 44 | 64 | 43 | 5 | 0 |
| N Zadran | lbw | b Shakib | 17 | 48 | 34 | 1 | 0 |
| Ashraf | c Rahman | b Shakib | 10 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| Alam | run out (Sarkar) | 14 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 1 | |
| Hassan | c A Haque | b Taskin Ahmed | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| S Zadran | not out | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 0nb 2w 0b 1lb | 3 | |||||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | |||
| Mortaza | 9 | 2 | 20 | 3 | |||
| Rubel Hossain | 6 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |||
| Taskin Ahmed | 7 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |||
| Shakib | 8.5 | 0 | 43 | 2 | |||
| Mahmudullah | 8 | 1 | 31 | 1 | |||
| Sarkar | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Rahman | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
A 114-run fifth-wicket partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim was the cornerstone of the Tigers’ innings.
After reaching 38-0 at the end of the Powerplay, Mirwais Ashraf removed openers Tamim Iqbal (19) and Anamul Haque (29) in consecutive overs.
Shapoor Zadran then chipped in to dismiss Soumya Sarkar (28) and Mahmudullah (23) to leave Bangladesh at 119-4 in the 30th over.
However Shakib (63) and Mushfiqur (71) both hit six boundaries and a six to deflate the Afghans who defeated Bangladesh by 32 runs in their only previous one-day international match-up at the Asia Cup in Fatullah last year.
Six wickets fell in the final 32 balls of the innings with Bangladesh’s last man Taskin Ahmed bowled by Aftab Alam with the final ball of the innings.
Afghanistan would have been optimistic of a famous victory, just 15 years after the Taliban lifted a ban on the game, but they slumped to 3-3 in their reply.
Javed Ahmadi (1) offered a return catch to Mashrafe Mortaza, next ball Afsar Zazai (1) was trapped lbw by Rubel Hossain before Mortaza returned to have Asghar Stanikzai (1) caught at slip.
Nawroz Mangal and Samiullah Shenwari rebuilt the innings but the former swept Mahmudullah to deep square leg after making 27 and then Samiullah was run out on 42, attempting a second run.
At 78-5, Afghanistan’s hopes of emulating Ireland and beating a Test nation had all but vanished. A spirited 62-run partnership for the sixth wicket was ended when Najibullah Zadran (17) was trapped lbw by Shakib and Afghanistan's long-serving captain Mohammad Nabi miscued Mortaza to mid-off next ball after making 44.
The tail failed to wag and comical run out ended the match in the 43rd over.
Bangladesh have a much tougher task when they face Australia in their next match on Saturday.
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