Sports Reporter :The 16 crore people of Bangladesh burst into joy when they watched that the Tigers mauled Afghanistan by 105 runs in their first Group A match of the ICC World Cup Cricket 2015 at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, Australia on Wednesday.The crazy cricket fans, especially who watched the Bangladesh’s opener on large screen at the different places of the country had no bound of rejoice. Electing to bat first, Bangladesh piled up a healthy total of 267 in 50 overs and then they bundled out Afghanistan for a paltry 162 off 42.5 overs.Bangladesh had a modest start as they lost their early four wickets for 119 runs.Later, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim improved their team’s position contributing together 114 runs for the fifth wicket stand before Shakib Al Hasan was bowled out by Hamid Hassan when the Tigers total was 233 for the loss of five wickets.After dismissal of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim could stay at the crease for a short time as Mushfiqur Rahim was caught at the deep mid-wicket by Samiullah Shenwari off Mohammad Nabi when Bangladesh’s score was 247 for the loss of seven wickets.Mushfiqur Rahim was the highest run getter for Bangladesh. He notched up a brilliant 71 from 56 balls featuring six fours and a sixer. Mushfiqur Rahim reached his 19th ODI fifty-run landmark using 40 deliveries. Mushfiqur Rahim was adjudged the Man of the Match for his outstanding batting performance. Shakib Al Hasan made 63 off 51 balls hitting six boundaries and one over boundary. It was Shakib Al Hasan’s 27th ODI half century.Shakib Al Hasan was the first Bangladeshi batsman who crossed the 4000-run landmark in One Day International (ODI) Cricket. He scored 4040 runs playing 142 ODI matches. Opener Anamul Haque and one-down Soumya Sarkar added 29 and 28 runs respectively to the Bangladesh total.Shapoor Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Aftab Alam and Hamid Hassan got a pair of wickets each for 20, 32, 55 and 61 runs respectively.Later, most of the Afghan batsmen failed to face the tight and controlled bowling attack of Bangladesh. Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza led his team from the frontline in demolishing Afghanistan innings.Tigers’ skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza inflicted the early blow to Afghanistan innings as he caught & bowled opener Javed Ahmadi (1) in the last ball of the first over leaving team total at two runs.Pacer Rubel Hossain then trapped Afsar Zazai (1) leg before in his first ball of the 2nd over with the score showing 2 for 2.Soon after, pacer Mashrafe hunted his 2nd wicket, the 3rd for the team, in his last ball of the 3rd over as Mahmudullah caught two down Asghar Stanikzai (1) who scored 90 runs to defeat Bangladesh in the last Asia Cup.After initial batting collapse, one-down Nawroz Mangal pairing with Samiullah Shenwari contributed 62 runs in 19.4 overs while captain Mohammad Nabi partnering with Najibullah Zadran added another 58 runs in 11.2 overs in the 6th wicket stand.The last three wickets of Afghanistan fell for eight runs in eleven balls.Mashrafe Bin Mortaza grabbed three wickets at the cost of 20 runs while Shakib Al Hasan bagged a pair of wickets instead of 43 runs.Besides, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad took one wicket each for 23, 27 and 31 runs respectively.Skipper Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari of promotee Afghanistan were the two batsmen who could reach a notable figure. Mahammad Nabi made 44 from 43 balls including five fours while Samiullah scored 42 off 75 balls with two fours.Bangladesh will face Australia in their second Group A match at Brisbane in Australia on February 21.
