On Saturday, October 7 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, Afghanistan was defeated by Bangladesh by six wickets in the opening match of their World Cup 2023 campaign. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was Bangladesh‘s standout performer, picking up 3/25 with the ball before going on to score 57 (73) with the bat.
Afghanistan didn’t have many standout plays, but Rahmat Shah incredible catch to get rid of Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the game’s high point. Bangladesh was comfortably winning the match in the 29th over of the second innings thanks to a third-wicket partnership of Mehidy and Najmul Hossain Shanto that added 97 runs.
Mehidy attempted to slam Naveen-ul-Haq over mid-off with the opening ball of the over. Everyone was on the edge of their seats during the acrobatic effort as the audience gasped in amazement at his feat.
Rahmat Shah, though, made a remarkable catch by leaping to his full height and grabbing the ball out of thin air.
Watch the catch here:
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After a promising start, Afghanistan faced a catastrophic downfall.
Resuming the game, after being given the opportunity to bat first, Afghanistan got off to a strong start thanks to the opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (47 off 62) and Ibrahim Zadran (22 off 25), who combined for a first-wicket partnership of 47 runs. At 112/2 after 24.3 overs, with Gurbaz and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi in the middle, they were still going strong. However, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman dismissed the pair in consecutive overs, reducing Afghanistan to 112/4.
After the partnership ended, Afghanistan saw a stunning collapse and were dismissed for just 156 in 37.2 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz (57 off 73) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (59 off 83) put together a key stand of 97 runs off 129 balls for the second wicket as Bangladesh responded by chasing the score in 34.4 overs. Mehidy Hasan earned Player of the Match for his all-around performance.
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