The 2017 World Athlete

of the Year, Barshim

clears a height of 2.36

metres to win an exciting

duel against Russian

neutral athlete Danil

Lysenko.

SPORTFriday 8 June 2018

PAGE | 18 PAGE | 19Neymar to play

in warm-up against Austria

Al Sadd set for busy pre-season training

Halep, Stephens set up French Open finalAP

PARIS: Simona Halep emphati-cally ended the impressive French Open run of 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the semi-finals yesterday.

Halep’s fourth chance to win her first Grand Slam title will come against reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens, who beat a mistake-prone Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4 in the first all-American semifinal at Roland Garros since 2002.

Halep assured herself of retaining the No. 1 ranking and reached her third final in Paris. She lost both of the previous ones in three sets, to Maria Sharapova (2014) and to Jelena Ostapenko (2017).

“I will try my best,” Halep told the crowd at Court Phillipe Chatrier, “and hopefully I will be better than last year.”

The Romanian also came up one victory shy of a major cham-pionship at the Australian Open in January, beaten there by Caroline Wozniacki.

That means tomorrow’s final at the French Open will be Halep’s third title match in the past five Grand Slam tournaments.

“I’m happy,” she said, “that I can have another chance.”

The 10th-seeded Stephens had never made it past the fourth round in Paris until now. After sitting out nearly a year because of an injured right foot that needed surgery in January 2017, she has soared up the rankings and now made it to her second major final in the past ninth months.

“Another great opportunity on Saturday, and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Stephens, whose late father, John, was the 1988 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year with the New England Patriots.

She improved to 3-0 against her longtime pal and Fed Cup teammate Keys, including their US Open final last September.

Like Halep, Stephens is an incredibly talented defensive

player, and she kept stretching points until Keys would err. In all, Keys made 41 unforced errors, 30 more than Stephens.

Muguruza, a two-time major champion, entered the semifinals having not lost a set in the tour-nament. She also was coming off a lopsided victory in the quarter-finals a day earlier, over-whelming five-time major champion Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1.

But it took Muguruza quite a while to get going against Halep,

who managed to keep sending ball after ball back over the net.

Backed by fans who loudly chanted her first name between games, Halep went ahead 3-0 in only 15 minutes with the help of only one winner. Of her first 14 points, 13 arrived via errors by Muguruza - nine unforced, four forced.

It was 5-0 by the time Muguruza eventually claimed a game.

The second set was more of a test for Halep, who was ahead

by a set and 3-0 before falling apart against Ostapenko a year ago.

Muguruza’s last stand came at 4-all in the second set, a 13-minute game in which she held three break points. But she failed to convert any of those, and Halep held there, before breaking at love to end it.

In two rain-interrupted men’s quarter-finals that were sus-pended on Wednesday evening, No. 1 Rafael Nadal completed a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 comeback over

11th-seeded Diego Schwartzman, and No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro defeated No. 3 Marin Cilic 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Nadal reached his 11th French Open semi-final as he bids for a record-extending 11th title at the clay-court major. Del Potro got back to the semi-finals in Paris for the first time since 2009.

They will play each other today, when the other men’s semi-final is No. 7 Dominic Thiem of Austria against 72nd-ranked Marco Cecchinato of Italy.

Simona Halep moves

into the final by beating

2016 champion Garbine

Muguruza.

Nadal reaches his 11th

French Open semi-final.

He bids for a record-

extending 11th title at

the clay-court major.

Abderrahman Samba

erases the 32-year old

meet record held by

American legend Danny

Harris with a brilliant run,

clocking a time of 47.60

seconds in the men’s 400

metres hurdles.

Both Qatari stars are

unbeaten in this season’s

IAAF Diamond League.

FRENCH OPEN RESULTS

MEN

QUARTER-FINALS

Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG x11) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x5) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x3) 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-3, 7-5WOMEN

SEMI-FINALS

Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Garbine Muguruza (ESP x3) 6-1, 6-4Sloane Stephens (USA x10) bt Madison Keys (USA x13) 6-4, 6-4MIXED DOUBLES

FINAL

Latisha Chan/Ivan Dodig (TAI/CRO x2) bt Gabriela Dabrowski/Mate Pavic (CAN/CRO x1) 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 10-8

Sloane Stephens of the US returns the ball to compatriot Madison Keys during their women’s singles semi-final match of French Open in Paris, yesterday.

Samba, Barshim dazzle Oslo crowd CHINTHANA WASALA THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba yesterday made a bril-liant comeback in the home stretch to outshine home hero and world champion Karsten Warholm to win the 400m with a meet record at the IAAF Diamond League in Oslo.

Also yesterday, reigning world high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim main-tained his unbeaten Diamond League record this season, winning his pet event, clearing 2.36 metres.

At the Bislett Stadion, Samba erased the 32-year old meet record held by American legend Danny Harris with a brilliant run, clocking a time of 47.60 seconds in the men’s 400 metres hurdles.

The event saw a host of top rated competitors, including Rio Olympics finalist Yasmani Copello of Turkey and Kerron Clement, the reigning Olympic champion. However, all eyes were on the home hero Warholm and Samba who is in brilliant form this season, having the world leading time under his name.

Samba was trailing at the third position until halfway mark, with Warholm leading the pack. But Samba eased past Warholm in the final 100 metres to disappoint the home crowd, completing a record breaking performance once again.

“I cannot say I was con-fident coming into the last hurdle to win, but I have better endurance in last meters. I’m enjoying life and hoping to continue to run fast next time in Stockholm,” Samba said.

“And you can be sure I can run faster, maybe even close to 47 seconds. And Samba dance, I need to learn that more,” Samba added. It was his third win the Diamond League this season.

Yasmani finished third (48.54 secs.) behind Warholm who clocked a time of 48.22 secs.

USA’s Timothy Lamont ‘TJ’ Holmes and Clement finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The men’s high jump field saw eight of the top athletes in contest, but ell eyes were on the exciting duel between the 2017 World Athlete of the Year, Barshim and Russia’s Danil Lysenko who won the silver medal at the IAAF Worlds last year.

Only Barshim and Lysenko made it beyond the 2.30 mark as Majd Eddin Ghazal, Marco Fasinotti and Donald Thomas all failed to clear the height.

Lysenko cleared the 2.30m mark with ease before Barshim succeeded in his second attempt. Both of them made it past the 2.33m mark, a new seasonal best for Lysenko.

The Russian neutral athlete failed in all his attempts at the height of 2.36 but the Qatari star kept on moving higher.

After clearing 2.36 metres in his first attempt, he decided to go for the record height of 2.40 meters but failed on all three of his attempts.

Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim

competes during the men’s high

jump at the Oslo IAAF Diamond

League 2018 at Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway

yesterday.

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba (right), Norway’s Karsten Warholm (left) and USA’s Kerron Clement compete in the men’s 400m hurdles event during the Oslo IAAF Diamond League meet yesterday.

18 FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2018SPORT

Science and the World Cup Germany on top of FIFA rankingsAFP

PARIS: Defending champions Germany will have the psychological advantage of going to the Russian World Cup finals sitting atop the FIFA rankings.

The Germans are in good shape heading to Russia after their talismanic goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, a key player in their 2014 victory, returned to action after a long absence through injury.

Neymar’s on-form five-time World Cup winners Brazil are second, multi-tal-ented Belgium are third, C r i s t i a n o R o n a l d o ’ s European champions Por-tugal fourth and Lionel Messi’s Argentina are fifth. According to reports Germany and Brazil joint World Cup favourites at odds of five to one followed by Spain, France and Argentina.

World Cup host nation Russia meanwhile slide to 70th position after a seven-game winless streak. They kick off the tournament against Saudi Arabia on June 14.

STANDINGS: 1. Germany2. Brazil3. Belgium4. Portugal5. Argentina6. Switzerland7. France8. Poland (+2)9. Chile 10. Spain (-2)11. Peru =12. Denmark, England (+1) 14. Uruguay (+3)15. Mexico16. Colombia17. Netherlands (+2)18. Wales (+3)19. Italy (+1)20. Croatia (-2)

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A statue of Zabivaka, the official mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, is seen on Manezhnaya Square in downtown Moscow yesterday.

Adidas Telstar 18, the

official ball for the

Russia 2018 World

Cup, experiences more

“drag” or resistance as

it flies through the air,

the researchers found.

The studies suggest that

players in red jerseys

are viewed as more

dominant and skilled --

both by themselves and

by opponents who may

be more anxious and

perform less well as a

result.

One study has found

that white kits are the

most visible on a green

football field, and could

“increase the amount

of completed successful

passes”.

AFP

PARIS: Football fans won’t be alone when they sit glued to their TV sets for the 2018 World Cup.

Scientists, too, will follow every move of the players and ball, probing all facets of the beautiful game for insights into disciplines as divergent as aer-odynamics, psychology and the human physique.

With just about every World Cup, there seems to be grum-bling about the ball, which Adidas has designed for the four-yearly FIFA tournament since 1970.

Already, this year’s offering, Telstar 18, has been criticised by some goalkeepers for being too flighty and hard to grip.

But scientists say the new sphere is actually quite stable -- certainly more so than Jab-ulani, the much-denigrated official ball for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Telstar 18 is a nostalgic nod to Adidas’ first-ever World Cup ball, the Telstar, used in Mexico for the 1970 World Cup.

That was the first black-and white sphere made for a World Cup -- designed for better vis-ibility on monochrome TV screens -- and sported the mix of pentagonal and hexagonal panels that has become synon-ymous with soccer balls.

The latest offering is white, black and grey, with gold lettering.

Eric Goff, a physics pro-fessor at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia, was part of a team that analysed the ball using wind-tunnel experiments and surface measurements.

Compared to the Brazuca, its predecessor used in Brazil in 2014, the Telstar 18 experiences more “drag” or resistance as it flies through the air, the researchers found.

This means it will travel shorter distances -- about eight to ten percent less than Brazuca -- when kicked at high impact speeds of more than 90 kilo-metres (56 miles) per hour, Goff said.

“That could be bad for strikers who kick from a great distance and must therefore kick the ball very hard,” he explained.

But potentially good news for goalies, as it means balls kicked at high speed “will reach the goal a little slower than Brazuca did in 2014.”

A winning formula requires not only the best players, coaches, and a good combi-nation of skill and luck. A team’s kit, research has shown, can give it an edge.

Particularly if it’s red.Iain Greenlees, a sports

psychologist with the

University of Chichester in England, has co-authored research papers concluding that both penalty takers and goal-keepers benefit from being decked out in ruby regalia.

The studies suggest that players in red jerseys are viewed as more dominant and skilled -- both by themselves and by opponents who may be more anxious and perform less well as a result.

One theory, Greenlees said, is that humans have evolved to associate red with danger, being the colour of blood, or with aggression -- think of a face reddened in anger.

And then there is the hypothesis that red is more visible and draws an opponent’s attention, breaking their focus.

There is certainly anecdotal evidence for scarlet success.

The English football team,

which traditionally plays home games in white, won its only World Cup title in its red “away” kit at Wembley Stadium in 1966 against white-shirted West Germany.

Some of the country’s top football clubs -- Liverpool and Manchester United for example -- play in red.

But this does not explain the phenomenon that is Brazil -- holder of the most World Cup titles with its iconic yellow jersey.

And the defending cham-pions, Germany, wear white.

One study found that white kits are the most visible on a green football field, and could “increase the amount of com-pleted successful passes”.

Green, however, could boost a team’s defence, being harder for opponents to see against a green background.

Greenlees points out that the overall impact of any colour would be small.

“A good team wearing white/blue/green should still outperform an average team wearing red,” he said.

But if teams are equally matched in other departments, jersey shade may just tip the scales.

Pele had it. Messi has it. So does Ronaldo and Neymar.

The flamboyance, that element of skilful surprise that can change a match from one second to the next and fires up the fans.

The over-the-head bicycle kick made famous by Pele, no-look or dummy passes, the “elastico” dribble that makes a defender believe the ball is coming right at them only for it to be pulled back... these are tricks designed not only to entertain the hoards.

“High creativity” is, in fact, a good predictor for victory, said a study in the Journal of Sports Sciences in April.

Researchers analysed all 311 goals scored during open play in 153 matches in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and the 2016 UEFA Euro.

They looked specifically at the eight actions before each goal, and rated them from zero to 10 for creativity, described as a combination of “sur-prising, original and flexible” ball use.

High creativity in the last two actions before the shot on goal “proved to be the best pre-dictor for game success,” they found.

The study found that highly creative moves were rare during matches -- fewer than one in 10. But almost half of goals scored included one or more highly creative actions.

Brazil’s Neymar and his team-mates in action during a training session at the Tottenham Hotspur Training Ground in London yesterday.

Panama team hotel gets raided during Oslo matchAFP

OSLO: At around the time that World Cup minnows Panama were playing Norway this week, thieves were busy rifling their Oslo hotel rooms, police told yesterday.

The Panamanian

football federation tweeted: “Three #Pan-amayor hotel rooms were robbed in Oslo, Norway. Norwegian police are at the scene looking for clues.”

Police say objects worth around €53,000 euros ($62,000) were

taken from three rooms in a downtown Oslo hotel.

Police spokeswoman Aslaug Rohne said that the robbery probably took place at the same time as Panama were being beaten by Norway on Wednesday in a match that ended 1-0.

Neymar to play in warm-up against Austria; Fred injuredAP

LONDON: While Neymar seems to be finishing his injury recovery and is set to play in Brazil’s last pre-World Cup friendly at Austria on Sunday, midfielder Fred left Thurs-day’s training in pain after a tackle.

Brazil coach Tite put Neymar in his main formation during training in London and removed midfielder Fern-andinho from the starting line-up.

Last Sunday, Neymar joined the team during the break against Croatia. He scored the first goal of the game after dribbling past two opponents and was more active than coach Tite expected at this stage of his recovery.

Neymar is returning from a foot injury that kept him out for three months.

Tite also kept winger Willian in the team, which suggests he will use midfielder Philippe Coutinho in a more central position in Vienna.

Midfielder Fred, who is also one of Tite’s options for Fernandinho’s spot, was forced out of the training after a tackle by Casemiro affected his right ankle.

The newly signed Manchester United player tried to remain on the pitch but couldn’t. He was treated with ice on the sidelines.

“It is too early to say, we have to see how he develops in the next 24 hours,” Brazilian football con-federation physician Rodrigo Lasmar said of Fred’s con-dition. “He started working out right after. Tomorrow we will know whether he will have to be further examined or not.”

Brazil players have praised the intense training ses-sions but critics say Tite’s hard-line approach could affect the future of his players in the World Cup.

Midfielder Renato Augusto has been sidelined since last week due to pain in his right knee.

Lasmar said Augusto could play on Sunday depending on how his recovery continues this week.

Brazil has until a day before its World Cup opener against Switzerland on June 17 to replace injured players in its 23-man squad.

Brazil’s two-week training camp in London ends on Friday, when the team travels to Austria for the friendly.

19FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2018 SPORT

A file photo of Al Sadd’s training session.

Al Sadd set for busy pre-season trainingFAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Seeking a return to trophy winning form, Al Sadd’s team management led by head coach Jesualdo Ferreira has planned a busy training schedule for ‘The Wolves’.

The pre-season training for QNB Stars League (QSL) giants includes a training camp in Austria and several friendly games.

Al Sadd, led by Xavi Her-nandez (pictured), were the only club which gave treble-winning Al Duhail a realistic threat to their campaign last season.

‘The Wolves’ finished second in the QSL behind Al Duhail, and also played the final of Qatar Cup which they lost to the same opposition.

They won the season-opening Sheikh Jassim Cup after defeating Al Duhail.

Al Sadd have secured new contracts for both Ferreira and Xavi reposing confidence on the duo as they aim to topple their coun-terparts the next season.

Al Sadd announced a two-year con-tract extension with Barcelona legend Xavi last week and on Tuesday they renewed Ferreira’s contract f o r

another season. ‘The Wolves’, who will

meet Iranian club Esteghlal in the first leg of the AFC Cham-pions League quarter-final in Tehran on August 27, will

begin preparations for the new season from July 1 in Doha.

During the training at home venue, Xavi’s side will work on physical and technical training

before the coaches choose the final

pre-season squad. The squad will then travel

to Austria training camp which will be held from July 12 to 28. The camp will be held in Bad Haring, an Austrian town that is situated close to the German border. The team will stay at the Hotel Das Sieben for the duration of the camp.

This will be Al Sadd’s second visit to Bad Haring, after training at the same venue last season.

The town, which is known for its mountains and health tourism, is just 45 kms away from Munich.

During the camp, the team will play three friendlies to prepare for the new season. The matches are set to be played on the July 19, 23 and 27. The new QSL season will begin on August 2.

ytopple their coun-terparts the nextseason.

Al Sadd announced a two-year con-tract extension with Barcelona legend Xavi last week and onTuesday they renewed Ferreira’s contract f o r

g p pthe new seasonfrom July 1 inDoha.

During thetraining at homevenue, Xavi’s sidewill work onphysical andtechnical training

before the coacheschoose the final

Ricciardo could yet escape Canadian GP grid penaltyREUTERS

MONTREAL: Daniel Ricciardo could yet escape a Canadian Grand Prix grid penalty despite Red Bull technical head Adrian Newey saying earlier in the week that he would have one.

The Australian told reporters yes-terday that while the MGU-K unit used at the previous race in Monaco had been destroyed, the team hoped one from earlier in the season remained useable.

The MGU-K recovers the energy generated while braking and forms part of the Renault power unit.

Drivers are allowed only two for the whole season before incurring a 10-place penalty, and the Monaco MGU-K was already Ricciardo’s second.

“We’re hoping that what we start with tomorrow will run all weekend and if that’s the case, then no pen-alties,” said Ricciardo, who has two free practice sessions today.

“I guess there was a little bit of miscommunication (earlier in the week). I would much rather take the penalties elsewhere,” he added.

“We’ve got good momentum right now and it’s a circuit where it’s tricky to overtake so you don’t want to be starting 10th or 15th, or somewhere down there. We’ll try and survive this weekend.” Ricciardo won in Monaco, despite completing almost two thirds of the race with no MGU-K, and is third in the championship.

The Australian took the first grand prix win of his career in Mon-treal in 2014 and was third last year.

Newey had said that Ricciardo would “definitely be taking some penalties in Montreal.”

NBA: Durant scores 43 as Warriors secure 3-0 leadREUTERS

CLEVELAND: Kevin Durant scored 43 points, and the Golden State Warriors overcame a slow start on Wednesday night to defeat the Cavaliers 110-102 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Golden State, trying to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the third time in four years, leads the best-of-seven series, 3-0. Game 4 is tonight in Cleveland.

Neither team led by more than three points in the fourth quarter until Stephen Curry drained a 3-pointer with 2:38 remaining for a 101-97 War-riors edge.

LeBron James then made a three of his own to make it a one-point game before Andre Iguodala, making his return after missing the pre-vious six games due to a bone bruise in his left knee, con-verted a dunk to increase the lead to 103-100.

Durant then buried a 3-pointer from 33 feet out with 49.8 seconds remaining to essentially ice the game.

Rodney Hood, who sat out three games before playing four minutes of garbage time in Game 2 of the Finals, came off the bench to score 15 points for the Cavaliers.

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue after practice Tuesday

said getting off to a fast start would be critical. He also wanted his team to be more physical than they were in the two games played on Golden State’s floor to start the series.

The Cavs led 14-4 with 7:57 left in the first quarter, a complete flip from Game 2 when the Warriors jumped to a 15-6 lead with 8:12 left in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers never recovered, even though more than 44 minutes remained.

The difference on Wednesday was the Warriors chipped away at the Cava-liers’ lead and tied the score 26-26 on a pull-up jumper by Kevin Durant with 32.6 seconds left in the opening quarter. The Cavaliers

regained control in the second quarter by dominating the glass and playing smoth-ering defense on Curry.

Curry scored 33 points and was 9-of-17 on 3-point attempts in Golden State’s 122-103 victory in Game 2.

He had just two points in the first half of Game 3 and was 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts when the Warriors went to the locker room at halftime trailing 58-52. Curry finished with 11 points.

As they’ve done throughout the playoffs, the Warriors surged in the third quarter, outscoring the Cav-aliers 31-23 to take an 83-81 lead into the fourth quarter. Durant scored 10 points in the third quarter.

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (foreground) in action in game three of the 2018 NBA Finals on Wednesday.

Kohli named Indian Cricketer-of-the-YearAFP

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli won India’s Cricketer-of-the-Year award for the fifth time yesterday for outstanding performances over the past two seasons.

Kohli became India’s captain in 2015 and led his team back to number one place in the Test rankings the following year.

The 29-year-old, who was also named International Cricket Council player of the year in January, amassed 1,332 runs in 13 Tests in 2016-2017.

He also averaged 84.22 for his 1,516 runs in 27 one-day internationals.

In six Tests in 2017-18, the star batsman has scored 896 runs at an average of 89.6.

Kohli will receive the pres-tigious Polly Umrigar award,

named after a former India captain, and a $45,000 prize at a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) function in Ban-galore on June 12.

He previously won the award in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The prize is not granted in every calendar year, due to scheduling issues, and is deter-mined on previous seasons’ performances.

Known as “King Kohli” in his home country, the player was recently ranked the highest paid cricketer in the world, at 83rd in the Forbes’ list of big earning athletes.

It estimated his annual earnings at $24m.

In line with his status as a national hero, a wax effigy of Kohli was unveiled on Wednesday at the Madame Tus-sauds museum in New Delhi.

In this file photo taken on June 6, 2018, an Indian visitor takes a selfie with the newly-unveiled wax statue of Indian cricketer Virat Kohli at the Madame Tussauds Delhi in New Delhi.

Tendulkar’s son picked for India Under-19 teamAFP

NEW DELHI: Arjun Tendulkar (pictured), son of Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar, was yesterday named in an Under-19 squad for two four-day matches in Sri Lanka.

Arjun, 18, was picked as part of a 15-member squad by the country’s junior selection com-mittee, according to a press release by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

An all-rounder who bowls and bats left-handed, Arjun has been playing junior cricket for Mumbai.

Standing at over six feet, the left-arm quick bowler has claimed 18 wickets from five domestic matches at the U-19

level including a five-wicket haul.

He came under the inter-national spotlight when he bowled in the nets in the lead-up to the Lord’s Test between England and South Africa in 2017.

Arjun was however over-looked for the five one-dayers which the juniors will play during the July 11-August 11 tour after the four-day games.

T20: Afghanistan inflict whitewash on BangladeshAFP

DEHRADUN: Spin sensation Rashid Khan bowled an excellent last over to help Afghanistan eke out a thrilling one-run win over Bangladesh and complete a series whitewash in the third Twenty20 international yesterday.

Chasing 146 for victory, Bangladesh required nine in the 20th over but Khan held his nerve to restrict Bang-ladesh to 144-6 in the north Indian city of Dehradun.

The Asghar Stanikzai-led Afghanistan, who await their Test debut against India on June 14 in Bangalore, tri-umphed 3-0 after winning the first two games comprehensively.

Mushfiqur Rahim, who

hit 46, and Mahmudullah Riyad, who made 45, put together a gritty 84-run fifth-wicket partnership to give Bangladesh hope of a conso-lation win.

The 19-year-old Khan, who topped the bowling chart with eight wickets and the man of the series award, returned figures of 1-24.

Earlier, Afghanistan batsman Samiullah Shenwari made an unbeaten 33 to lift his side to 145-6 after they elected to bat first.

Afghanistan were in trouble at 101-4 in the 15th over against a disciplined Bangladesh bowling attack but Shenwari’s 28-ball knock gave them a winning total.

Left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam and paceman Abu Jayed claimed two wickets each.