Bangladesh thrash Afghanistan in World Cup opener

Bangladesh started their 2015 ICC World Cup journey with a massive victory over Afghanistan at Manuka Oval stadium in Australian city of Canberra on Wednesday. The Tigers beat the Afghans by 105 runs. Batting first, Bangladesh scored 267 runs losing all wickets in 50 overs. In replay, Afghanistan were all out scoring 162 runs in 42.5 overs. Earlier, winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza decided to bat first and the Tigers scored 267 runs losing all wickets in 50 overs. Starting off slow openers Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque were lost with not much runs on the scoreboard. The duo only made a 47-run opening partnership off 87 balls. Tamim scored 19 runs off 42 balls while Anamul 29 runs off 55 balls. Soumya Sarkar, who came to bat on third position, added quick 28 runs off 25 balls with three fours and a six but was unfortunate to be LBW by Shapoor Zadran. Mahmudullah, promoted to the fourth position to keep left-right hand balance, went very slow and added only 23 runs off 46 balls. However, midway into the innings, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim hit fifties and revived the Bangladesh innings, picking up the scoring rate with a flurry of boundaries. When they came together at the start of the 30th over, Bangladesh were four down and were going nowhere, their run-rate a sluggish 4.10. Shakib made 63 off 51 balls with six fours and a pulled six over backward square leg, a rescue effort if there ever was one from the No. 1 allrounder in the world. Mushfiqur Rahim smashed 71 runs off 56 balls with six fours and a six. Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza smashed some big hits and added 14 runs more off 9 balls. .— risingbd.com