Bermuda ended the group stage of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers with their sixth loss in seven games as they fell 15 runs short of defending champions and tournament favourites Afghanistan yesterday at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai.An aggressive half-century from Mohammad Shahzad and three wickets from medium-pacer Aftab Alam ensured Afghanistan finished the group stage with a perfect record, good enough to win the group.The Islanders had to play from behind for vast parts of the game as their bowling again let them down.Of the six bowlers used, only Rodney Trott (3.25) had an economy rate under seven an over, something that will always spell disaster in the shorter version of the game.Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Afghanistan openers Karim Sadiq (22) and Javed Ahmadi (13) made their intentions known from the first over, blasting Kamau Leverock for three fours in the first four balls as the youngster conceded 16 runs.Sammy Robinson shared the new ball duties with Leverock and managed to only concede six runs in his first over, although skipper David Hemp had seen enough of what the Afghans were doing to Leverock and took him off the ball.Going along at nearly nine runs an over after the first four overs, both Sadiq, caught by Dion Stovell off the bowling of Trott, and Ahmadi, caught Leverock off the bowling of Robinson, were sent back the pavilion within eight balls of each other.The dismissals brought match-winner Shahzad to the crease to lay down the law, picking his moments to attack and rotating the strike with Asghar Stanikzai (26) who provided the perfect foil for the partnership.Shahzad preferred clearing the ropes to finding the gaps and hit five sixes and three fours in his 64 off 38 balls.Stanikzai gave Shahzad support in a 56-run third-wicket stand before Gulbodin Naib came in and hit three sixes and a four in an eight-ball unbeaten 26.Mohammad Nabi chipped in with 22 down the order as Afghanistan scored 72 runs off the last four overs to reach their total.Stovell claimed two wickets while Gilbert also grabbed a wicket.Bermuda's chase never really got going with regular wickets falling preventing them from accelerating. They lost Stovell (0) on the fourth ball of the innings with only one run on the board, followed by Lionel Cann (17) with the score on 29.The required-rate was nearing 12 after 12 overs before Janeiro Tucker joined opener Fiqre Crockwell (34) and slammed four consecutive sixes off Samiullah Shenwari's leg spin in the 13th over.Tucker exited for 37 off 16 balls off the last ball of that over and Bermuda's challenge faded with his dismissal.The required-rate kept rising and only a 16-run final over by Leverock (21 not out) reduced the margin of what was in actuality an easy win for Afghanistan.Bermuda are ahead of only Denmark on net run rate in Group A and play USA on Thursday to determine world rankings points.Afghanistan had already qualified for the knockouts and are potentially one match, a preliminary final against Namibia, away from qualifying for the World Twenty20 finals in Sri Lanka in October.