Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib elected to bowl first against Bangladesh in their World Cup game at Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
The Tigers made a change in their opening stand as Liton Kumar Das came in to open the innings, instead of Soumya Sarkar, with Tamim Iqbal.
The strategy was taken to tackle Afghan off-spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman as Bangladesh opted for a left-right combination.
Liton was playing comfortably in the first few overs and scored 16 off 16 deliveries with two boundaries.
But in the third ball of the fifth over, Liton played an uppish drive and Hashmatullah Shahidi took a low catch.
The catch did not look clean in the naked eye.
Liton was standing at the crease, although the Afghanistan players were celebrating.
Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes said Afghanistan have a quality spin bowling attack and although Tigers respect the attack they don’t fear it. https://t.co/j8d91T3C91#BanvAfg #WorldCup2019
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) June 23, 2019
The umpires called for a replay and the soft signal was out.
The TV replays showed that the ball almost touched the ground, but perhaps, the Shahidi’s right-hand finger was beneath the ball, and thus, third umpire Aleem Dar did not overturn the on-field umpire’s decision in the end.
The third umpire said on the loud speaker that he didn't see anything conclusive to overturn the decision.
But, it was a 50-50 chance and generally, these kind of catches are often overturned.
It'll generate plenty of debate for sure.
There might be a debate as to whether benefit of the doubt goes to a batsman, but the third umpire gave preference to the on-field umpire’s call.
MATCH 31
BANGLADESH INNINGS R B
Liton c Shahidi b Mujeeb 16 17
Tamim b Nabi 36 53
Shakib lbw b Mujeeb 51 69
Mushfiq c Nabi b Dawlat 83 87
Soumya lbw b Mujeeb 3 10
Mahmudullah c Nabi b Naib 27 38
Mosaddek b Naib 35 24
Saifuddin not out 2 2
Extras (w 9) 9
Total (50 Overs) 262/7
Fall Of Wickets
1-23 (Liton), 2-82 (Tamim), 3-143 (Shakib), 4-151 (Soumya), 5-207 (Mahmudullah), 6-251 (Mushfiq), 7-262 (Mosaddek)
Bowling
Mujeeb 10-0-39-3, Dawlat 9-0-64-1, Nabi 10-0-44-1, Naib 10-1-56-2, Rashid 10-0-52-0, Rahmat 1-0-7-0
AFGHANISTAN INNINGS R B
Naib c Liton b Shakib 47 75
Rahmat c Tamim b Shakib 24 35
Shahidi st Mushfiq b Mosaddek 11 31
Afghan c sub (Sabbir) b Shakib 20 38
Nabi b Shakib 0 2
Shinwari not out 49 51
Alikhil run out (Liton) 11 12
Najibullah st Mushfiq b Shakib 23 23
Rashid c Mashrafe b Mustafizur 2 3
Dawlat c Mushfiq b Mustafizur 0 8
Mujeeb b Saifuddin 0 4
Extras (b 1, lb 6, w 6) 13
Total (47 Overs) 200 all out
Fall Of Wickets
1-49 (Rahmat), 2-79 (Shahidi), 3-104 (Naib), 4-104 (Nabi), 5-117 (Afghan), 6-132 (Alikhil), 7-188 (Najibullah), 8-191 (Rashid), 9-195 (Dawlat), 10-200 (Mujeeb)
Bowling
Mashrafe 7-0-37-0, Mustafizur 8-1-32-2, Saifuddin 8-0-33-1, Shakib 10-1-29-5, Miraz 8-0-37-0, Mosaddek 6-0-25-1
Bangladesh won by 62 runs
MoM: Shakib al Hasan
