Shakib, Rahim keep Bangladesh in contention

Southampton (PTI): Shakib Al Hasan came up with a special all-round performance, steering Bangladesh to a 62-run win over Afghanistan here on Monday and keeping their semifinal hopes alive in the World Cup.

Mushfiqur Rahim (83 off 87 balls) and Shakib (51 off 69) showed their class on a difficult surface to help Bangladesh post a competitive 262 for seven after Afghanistan opted to field at the Hampshire Bowl.

Shakib, who also became the tournament's leading run getter on way to his half-century, was also exceptional with the ball. The left-arm spinner ended with figures of five for 29 for in 10 overs, his best in ODI cricket.

With this incredible effort, Shakib also became only the second cricketer after India's Yuvraj Singh to score a fifty and take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup match.

Chasing 263 was always going to be tough for a fragile Afghanistan batting line-up but 48 for no loss in 10 overs raised hopes that the Gulbadin Naib-led side might just get its first win of the tournament after six losses in a row.

However, the batting fell apart after Shakib removed Rahmat Shah (24) and from 49 for no loss, Afghanistan were reeling at 132 for six. The seventh wicket stand for 56 runs between Samiullah Shinwari (49 not out) and Najibullah Zadran (23) saved them the blushes. Afghanistan were eventually all out for 200 in 47 overs.

Bangladesh's third win in seven games took them to seven points and if they win their remaining fixtures against India and Pakistan, the Mashrafe Mortaza-led unit will end the league stage with 11 points.

Earlier, Rahim and Shakib shared a 61-run partnership laying the foundation for a decent score on a slow surface. The India-Afghanistan game here on Saturday also saw batsmen struggle to score freely.

Mosaddek Hossain (35 off 24) provided the much-needed fireworks in the death overs, taking the total past 250. The stand-out bowler for Afghanistan was spinner Mujeeb Ur-Rahman (3/39), troubling the batsmen with his variations. Liton Das (16) was promoted to open the innings alongside Tamim Iqbal (36) with Soumya Sarkar pushed down the order.

Das could not make the opportunity count and was caught at cover off Mujeeb. Iqbal and star all-rounder Shakib then shared a 59-run stand before Mohammad Nabi hit the former's stumps, leaving Bangladesh at 82 for two in 17 overs.

Shakib, who surpassed David Warner to become the tournament's leading run-getter, played a gritty knock that included just one four. The world's premier all-rounder has so far scored two hundreds and three half-centuries in the competition.

SCOREBOARD

Bangladesh

Liton Das c Hashmatullah Shahidi b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 16

Tamim Iqbal b Mohammad Nabi 36

Shakib Al Hasan lbw b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 51

Mushfiqur Rahim c Mohammad Nabi b Dawlat Zadran 83

Soumya Sarkar lbw b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3

Mahmudullah c Mohammad Nabi b Gulbadin Naib 27

Mosaddek Hossain b Gulbadin Naib 35

Mohammad Saifuddin not out 2

Extras: (w 9) 9

Total: (For 7 wkts, 50 Overs) 262

Did not bat: Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mustafizur Rahman

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-82, 3-143, 4-151, 5-207, 6-251, 7-262

Bowling: Mujeeb Ur Rahman 10-0-39-3, Dawlat Zadran 9-0-64-1, Mohammad Nabi 10-0-44-1, Gulbadin Naib 10-1-56-2, Rashid Khan 10-0-52-0, Rahmat Shah 1-0-7-0.

Afghanistan

Gulbadin Naib c Liton Das b Shakib Al Hasan 47

Rahmat Shah c Tamim Iqbal b Shakib Al Hasan 24

Hashmatullah Shahidi st M Rahim b Mosaddek Hossain 11

Asghar Afghan c sub (Sabbir Rahman) b Shakib Al Hasan 20

Mohammad Nabi b Shakib Al Hasan 0

Samiullah Shinwari not out 49

Ikram Alikhil run out (Liton Das) 11

Najibullah Zadran st Mushfiqur Rahim b Shakib Al Hasan 23

Rashid Khan c Mashrafe Mortaza b Mustafizur Rahman 2

Dawlat Zadran c Mushfiqur Rahim b Mustafizur Rahman 0

Mujeeb Ur Rahman b Mohammad Saifuddin 0

Extras: (b 1, lb 6, w 6) 13

Total: (All out, 47 Overs) 200

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-79, 3-104, 4-104, 5-117, 6-132, 7-188, 8-191, 9-195, 10-200

Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 7-0-37-0, Mustafizur Rahman 8-1-32-2, Mohammad Saifuddin 8-0-33-1, Shakib Al Hasan 10-1-29-5, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 8-0-37-0, Mosaddek Hossain 6-0-25-1.