Shakib Al Hasan's masterclass sees Bangladesh through
He made an unbeaten 70 off 45 balls, as he rode out the pressure created by Afghanistan's spinners, even as wickets kept falling at the other end
He made an unbeaten 70 off 45 balls, as he rode out the pressure created by Afghanistan's spinners, even as wickets kept falling at the other end
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx)
10.12pm Another Shakib-Al-Hasan masterclass to see Bangladesh through to the win. Just what they needed before Tuesday's final. We knew Rashid was key for Afghanistan, and he was outstanding in his first two overs. But the 18 runs he leaked in the 18th over changed the game's complexion and now we have an excellent final in prospect in three day's time.
It wasn't the perfect game for Bangladesh, though, who started poorly with the ball. But they did well to pull things back with regular wickets between overs 11 and 20.
"Hopefully I'll be recovered soon," Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan says of his tweaked hamstring. "It looks a little sticky, but I should hopefully be OK for the final. I wanted to go and bowl and see how it goes, whether it's too much or I could recover. It's 50 or 60% fine. That was the plan behind coming back onto the field. We lost too many wickets in the middle, which is an important error, but that happens, and the best thing is that it happened in the group stage. In the final, we need to forget what has happened before and just stick to the basics."
Shakib Al Hasan is the Player of the Match. "Big win," he says. "If you look at the last few months, the way we've performed in T20 is not up to the mark. We needed to improve, and we've been working on it. Someone needed to bat through the innings, and luckily for me today it was my job to do that for the team. I never felt I was out of form, it was just a matter of time before I spent some time at the wicket. Throughout this tournament, bowlers have done a fantastic job and fielders have backed them up. It's just the batting that has let us down. Whoever scores runs has to make sure they stay there until the end for the team. This win will give us motivation, and a lot of confidence going into the final. It will be different conditions in Mirpur, and we'll have to be at our best to beat Afghanistan."
And that's all from the presentation, and indeed, from our coverage this evening. Thank you for tuning in, and do join us again for Tuesday's final. Afghanistan have been the form team, but Bangladesh will be riding on the momentum of back to back victories, and there are sure to be fireworks from both sides. Until then, this is Liam Brickhill and Sreshth Shah signing off. Goodbye!
Takin: "Afghans paid the price of not cashing out the advantage of a good opening stand."
akber: "Shakib does it again"
Joynul: "I wonder how Tom Moody would feel about last over ?"
Nayeem ibnul: "As it was supposed to be. boiled down to shakib vs rashid "
He made an unbeaten 70 off 45 balls, as he rode out the pressure created by Afghanistan's spinners, even as wickets kept falling at the other end