(Reuters) – If the Bangladesh celebrations after their comprehensive win over World Cup debutants Afghanistan in Canberra looked slightly over the top it was not without reason.
Mashrafe Mortaza’s men embarked on a victory lap at the Manuka Oval after crushing Afghanistan by 105 runs on Wednesday, suggesting the 32-run defeat in their only previous meeting last year still rankled.
The upset on home soil at Fatullah was one of the reasons Mushfiqur Rahim lost the ODI captaincy but the stumper-batsman redeemed himself with a man-of-the-match performance at the World Cup.
Mushfiqur top scored for Bangladesh with a quickfire 71 and sealed the victory by breaking the stumps to run out Aftab Alam, looking overcome with anger.
“I think it’s not an easy win, but it’s a comprehensive win. It’s a really great feeling,” Mushfiqur, 26, told the post-match news conference betraying none of the emotions he displayed on the field.
“As you can see with that run out (celebration), it’s a really pleasing thing and, as I said, being the captain, we lost that match against them and it was a big pressure match for us,” he added.
Now the pressure is off their shoulders, Mushfiqur said, the target to do well against strong teams in the group, starting with title contenders Australia in Saturday’s match in Brisbane.
“We are looking forward to the challenge against Australia and Sri Lanka and England and also other teams in our group. I think that this confidence will boost us.
“It’s not going to be easy, but it’s not going to be impossible either. In any game, anyone can win on any day.
“Going into that match, everyone will think that Australia are going to win easily. Hopefully we can prove something. All the boys are really geared up for that match.”
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh Innings
A. Haque lbw b Ashraf 29
T. Iqbal c Zazai b Ashraf 19
S. Sarkar lbw b S. Zadran 28
M. Mahmudullah c Zazai b S. Zadran 23
S. Al Hasan b Hassan 63
M. Rahim c Shenwari b Nabi 71
Sa. Rahman b Hassan 3
M. Mortaza b Alam 14
M. Haque run out (Zazai) 3
R. Hossain not out 0
T. Ahmed b Alam 1
Extras (b-3 lb-4 w-6) 13
Total (all out, 50 overs) 267 Fall of wickets: 1-47 T. Iqbal,2-52 A. Haque,3-102 S. Sarkar,4-119 M. Mahmudullah,5-233 S. Al Hasan,6-241 Sa. Rahman,7-247 M. Rahim,8-263 M. Haque,9-263 M. Mortaza,10-267 T. Ahmed
Bowling H. Hassan 10 – 0 – 61 – 2(w-1) S. Zadran 7 – 1 – 20 – 2 A. Alam 9 – 0 – 55 – 2(w-3) M. Ashraf 9 – 3 – 32 – 2(w-1) M. Nabi 9 – 0 – 58 – 1(w-1) J. Ahmadi 4.5 – 0 – 32 – 0 S. Shenwari 1.1 – 0 – 2 – 0
Afghanistan Innings
J. Ahmadi c&b Mortaza 1
A. Zazai lbw b R. Hossain 1
N. Mangal c R. Hossain b Mahmudullah 27
A. Stanikzai c Mahmudullah b Mortaza 1
S. Shenwari run out (Sa. Rahman, Rahim) 42
M. Nabi c Sarkar b Mortaza 44
N. Zadran lbw b Al Hasan 17
M. Ashraf c Mortaza b Al Hasan 10
A. Alam run out (Sarkar, Rahim) 14
H. Hassan c A. Haque b Ahmed 0
Extras (lb-1 w-2) 3
Total (all out, 42.5 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-2 J. Ahmadi,2-2 A. Zazai,3-3 A. Stanikzai,4-65 N. Mangal,5-78 S. Shenwari,6-136 N. Zadran,7-136 M. Nabi,8-154 M. Ashraf,9-154 H. Hassan,10-162 A. Alam
Bowling M. Mortaza 9 – 2 – 20 – 3 R. Hossain 6 – 0 – 27 – 1(w-1) T. Ahmed 7 – 0 – 23 – 1 S. Al Hasan 8.5 – 0 – 43 – 2 M. Mahmudullah 8 – 1 – 31 – 1(w-1) S. Sarkar 3 – 0 – 13 – 0 Sa. Rahman 1 – 0 – 4 – 0 Referees Umpire: Steve Davis Umpire: Joel Wilson TV umpire: Aleem Dar Match referee: Jeff Crowe Result: Bangladesh won by 105 runs
