Najibullah Zadran tore into the opposition attack with six sixes to lead Afghanistan into the Asia Cup Super 4 with a crushing seven-wicket win over Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Chasing 128 for victory, Afghanistan were in trouble at 62-3 when Najibullah (43) joined Ibrahim Zadran (42) for an unbeaten stand of 69 as they won by nine balls to spare in Sharjah.
Spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan took three wickets each to set up victory as Afghanistan restricted the opposition to 127-7 after Bangladesh elected to bat first.
Afghanistan, led by Mohammad Nabi, registered their second straight victory to become the first of the six teams to enter the next stage of the competition, which acts as a tune-up to the T20 World Cup in October-November.
Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 11 when skipper Shakib Al Hasan, playing his 100th T20 international, got the opener stumped with his left-arm spin.
Mosaddek Hossain got Hazratullah Zazai out for 23 with his off spin as Afghanistan seemed to lose control of their chase with runs hard to come by.
They were trouble when skipper Mohammad Nabi departed in the 13th over and Bangladesh supporters, who clearly outnumbered the Afghans, raised the roof.
But the left-handed Najibullah timed the chase to perfection as he finished with a flurry of sixes and one four in his 17-ball blitz.
The innings put Ibrahim's knock in shade as he hit four fours in his 41-ball stay.
Earlier Mujeeb, a spinner who can turn the ball both ways, shared the new ball with left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi and struck in each of his first three overs, including the key wicket of Shakib for 11.
Rashid, a leg-spinner, joined forces with Mujeeb after six overs of powerplay -- when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle -- to send back wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim trapped lbw for one.
Mushfiqur failed to pick a superb Rashid googly which the umpire gave not out only for Afghanistan to successfully review the decision in their favour.
Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad attempted to rebuild but Rashid broke through with a another googly that trapped the left-handed Afif lbw. He made 12.
Rashid struck again and cut short Mahmudullah's stay on 25 as the batsman top-edged a shot to deep mid-wicket.
Mosaddek Hossain then took on the bowlers to smash four boundaries and a six in his late blitz of 48, but Afghanistan finished by giving away just seven runs in the final over that included a run out.
Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Asia Cup T20 scoreboard
Scoreboard of the Asia Cup Twenty20 international between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Sharjah on Tuesday:
Bangladesh
Mohammad Naim b Mujeeb 6
Anamul Haque lbw b Mujeeb 5
Shakib Al Hasan b Mujeeb 11
Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Rashid 1
Afif Hossain lbw b Rashid 12
Mahmudullah Riyad c Zadran b Rashid 25
Mosaddek Hossain not out 48
Mahedi Hasan run out (Gurbaz/Omarzai) 14
Mohammad Saifuddin not out 0
Extras (lb3, w2) 5
Total (7 wickets, 20 overs) 127
Did not bat: Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Mohammad Naim), 2-13 (Anamul Haque), 3-24 (Shakib Al Hasan), 4-28 (Mushfiqur Rahim), 5-53 (Afif Hossain), 6-89 (Mahmudullah Riyad), 7-127 (Mahedi Hasan)
Bowling: Farooqi 4-0-25-0, Mujeeb 4-0-16-3 (1w), Naveen-ul-Haq 4-0-31-0 (1w), Rashid 4-0-22-3, Nabi 3-0-23-0, Omarzai 1-0-7-0
Afghanistan (target 128)
H. Zazai lbw b Mosaddek Hossain 23
R. Gurbaz st Mushfiqur Rahim b Shakib Al Hasan 11
I. Zadran not out 42
M. Nabi lbw b Mohammad Saifuddin 8
N. Zadran not out 43
Extras (lb1, w3) 4
Total (3 wickets, 18.3 overs) 131
Did not bat: K. Janat, R. Khan, A. Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, F. Farooqi
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Gurbaz), 2-45 (Zazai), 3-62 (Nabi)
Bowling: Shakib 4-0-13-1, Mustafizur 3-0-30-0 (2w), Mahedi 4-0-26-0, Taskin 3-0-22-0, Mosaddek 2.3-0-12-1, Saifuddin 2-0-27-1 (1w)
Toss: Bangladesh
Result: Afghanistan won by seven wickets, qualify for Super Fours