Najibullah Zadran scored a swashbuckling unbeaten 17 ball-43 as Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in Group B match in Sharjah on Tuesday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Bangladesh lost Mohammad Naim , Anamul Haque and Shakib Al Hasan to Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Rashid Khan then got into the act by trapping veteran Mushfiqur Rahim cheaply, leaving Bangladesh in deep trouble at 28/4.
The pair of Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah added 25 runs for the fifth wicket before the former perished to Rashid for 12.
Mahmudullah along with Mosaddek Hossain featured in a sixth wicket stand of 36 runs before the former again fell to Rashid, miscuing a slog sweep.
However a fighting unbeaten from Mossadek (48*) propelled Bangladesh to 127/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
For Afghanistan, Mujeeb and Rashid claimed 3 wickets each.
Chasing 128, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz got a reprieve when he was dropped at long on off Shakib in the third over.
However he failed to capitalize on the opportunity as he was stumped by Mushfiqur off Shakib for 11.
Hazratullah Zazai looked good in his innings of 23 before being dismissed leg before wicket by Hossain, as he completely missed a sweep.
Mohammad Saifuddin then trapped skipper Mohammad Nabi (8) as Afghanistan were reduced to 62/3.
Ibrahim and Najibullah Zadran then featured in a scintillating unbeaten 69 run stand for the fourth wicket to take Afghanistan to an emphatic win with 9 balls to spare.
With the victory, they became the first team to qualify for the Super 4 round of the Asia Cup.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman was declared the Man of the Match.