Mahmudul Hasan Joy struck a hundred that helped Bangladesh A to confirm a spot in the semifinal of the ongoing ACC as they secured a 21-run win against Afghanistan in their final Group A fixture at the P.Sara Oval in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Joy made a 114-ball 100, his second List A hundred while Zakir Hasan, Soumya Sarkar and Mahedi Hasan chipped in with 62 off 72 balls, 48 off 42 and 36 off 19 balls to put on a mammoth 308-7.
In reply, the Afghans were restricted to 278-8 thanks to Tanzim Hasan Shakib’s 3-67 and two wickets each from Rakibul Hasan and Soumya Sarkar.
Opener Riaz Hasan scored the highest with 78 while Bahir Shah remained unbeaten on 53 off 50 balls.
Naim Sheikh once again failed to make an impact after Bangladesh elected to bat. The left-hander was dismissed after bagging 18 off 19 deliveries. Tanzid Hasan (9) and skipper Saif Hasan (4) also followed the former’s steps as Bangladesh were struggling on 34 for three inside six overs.
Joy and Zakir then held the ship and added 117 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. The late flurry from Soumya and Mahedi where Bangladesh added 52 runs in the last five overs of the innings.
Bangladesh will take on Group B runner-up in the last four, denotes that they will face either India or Pakistan. The historical rivals will face-off in their final group fixture on Wednesday.
Bangladesh will feature in the semifinal on Friday.
