In their make-or-break clash against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh posted a challenging total of 183-7 Thursday in Dubai.
The Tigers scored 183 or more on six occasions, including this match, and lost only once – against Sri Lanka in Mirpur in 2018, reports UNB.
Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mosaddek Hossain helped the Tigers post a total that they could defend.
Bangladesh changed their opening pair in the match, dropping Anamul Haque Bijoy and Mohammad Naim and paving the way for Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sabbir Rahman.
The plan worked for the Tigers. However, Sabbir failed to impress despite hitting a four off the first ball he faced in international cricket after a break of three years.
Mehidy scored 38 off 26 balls with two sixes and two fours and Bangladesh scored 55 for one – the highest powerplay total in the ongoing Asia Cup so far.
After Sabbir fell, Mushfiqur Rahim failed once again scoring only 4 off 5.
Shakib scored 21 off 22 with three fours and completed 6,000 runs in T20s – both international and domestic.
In 10 overs, Bangladesh scored 85 for three. In the next five overs, Bangladesh's score stood at 123-4.
Afif led Bangladesh during the middle overs. Before falling prey to Dilshan Madushanka, he scored 39 off 22 balls with four fours and two sixes. In the fifth wicket stand, Afif and Mahmudullah Riyad added 57 runs off 37 balls.
In the last five overs, Bangladesh scored 60 runs. Of them, Mosaddek scored 29 off just 9 balls with four fours. Taskin Ahmed also scored 11 off six balls with a six.
For Sri Lanka, Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne scalped two wickets each.
Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh lost their first matches against Afghanistan. The winners of today's match will qualify for the next phase of the Asia Cup.