Afghanistan finish with 115/5

Throughout the innings, Bangladesh's bowlers kept Afghanistan under pressure. The opening partnership for Afghanistan was broken at 59 runs, and eventually, Afghanistan managed to post a total of 115 runs in their 20 overs. Chasing this target within 13 overs will be a challenging task for Bangladesh. To secure a semi-final spot, Bangladesh needs to defeat Afghanistan, earn 2 points, and surpass Australia's net run rate (-0.331).

Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar returned to the playing XI. Bangladesh lost the toss and had to bowl first, a decision Captain Shanto mentioned he would have taken had he won the toss. Regardless of Afghanistan's score, Bangladesh aims to chase it within the allotted time to meet the semi-final equation.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Taskin Ahmed provided a great start with the ball. Although Afghanistan didn't lose a wicket during the powerplay, the Tigers' bowlers maintained control over the first 6 overs. Afghanistan could only score 27 runs in the powerplay. Despite a record-setting opening pair, Bangladesh managed to keep them quiet. At the drinks break during the 10th over, Afghanistan was at 58 runs.

The breakthrough came in the next over of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz's opening partnership. Ibrahim, trying to hit a boundary off Rishad Hossain, was caught at long-off by Tanzim Sakib. He scored 18 runs off 29 balls with one boundary. This ended the 59-run opening partnership.

Azmatullah Omarzai, who scored 12 runs, was dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman's cutter. Rishad Hossain, in his final over, took the crucial wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who managed a 43-run innings at a strike rate of only 78. Two balls later, Rishad dismissed Gulbadin Naib, caught by a diving Soumya Sarkar at deep cover. Afghanistan lost their 4th wicket at 89 runs.

Taskin Ahmed, in excellent form, came in for his final over and dismissed Mohammad Nabi, who was caught by the captain for 1 run off 5 balls. Taskin finished the over with five consecutive dot balls but conceded a six off the last ball to Rashid Khan.