A small but passionate group of Bangladesh fans turned Dharamshala into Mirpur yesterday with their hooting and cheering outside the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, celebrating Bangladesh's comprehensive six-wicket win over Afghanistan.

It was the ideal start to the World Cup for skipper Shakib Al Hasan and his troops. It also extended Bangladesh's streak of winning their first match in the ODI World Cups to three.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz was the standout performer on the day as the all-rounder picked up three wickets, conceding just 25 runs from his nine overs. He then struck his third half-century in ODIs to set up Bangladesh's victory with 92 balls to spare, their biggest win in the mega event in terms of balls in hand.

It was a clinical show from the Tigers, which began with skipper Shakib winning the toss and asking Afghanistan to bat first.

Bangladesh took the risky call of going with five specialist bowlers and Mahmudullah as the sixth option, if needed. They were close to regretting this decision when Afghanistan got off to a solid start, courtesy of their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran.

Shakib then stepped up to the plate and put the brakes on Afghanistan with a couple of strikes.

Afghanistan still looked on their way to a decent total till Gurbaz was in the middle. But once he got caught off Mustafizur Rahman for 47, the Afghan innings fell apart as they lost their last eight batters in the span of 44 runs.

Shakib did not hide his disappointment with the way they started the match, but was proud of the way his bowlers fought back.

"We didn't get the start we wanted. Everyone believed that once we got a wicket, we could get more. It wasn't easy, but I am very happy the way we bowled," said Shakib during the post-match presentation ceremony yesterday.

Going back to Miraz, the right-hander once again stood up to a new challenge when he was sent to bat at No.3 for the first time in his ODI career.

Soon after he got to the middle, Bangladesh lost their second wicket and were down to 27 for two chasing 157.

But the in-form Miraz along with Najmul Hossain Shanto added 97 runs for the third wicket. The latter also struck a fifty and eventually remained unbeaten on 59 off 83 balls, setting Bangladesh on course to complete a comfortable victory.

Miraz was dismissed after scoring 57 off 73 balls, laced with five boundaries, when he was caught brilliantly by Rahmat Shah at mid-off off the bowling of Naveen-ul Haq.

Bangladesh will next face defending champions England at the same venue on October 10.