Afghanistan 235 (Nabi 84, Shahidi 52, Taskin 4-53, Mustafizur 4-58) Beat Bangladesh 143 (Shanto 47, Sarkar 33, Ghazanfar 6-26) By 92 Runs
Substitute wicketkeeper ikram alikhil had dropped najmul hossain shanto on 21, mohammad nabi had put mehidy hasan miraz down on 1, gulbadin naib Had seen the ball slip third mehidy on 4, And Afghanistan Had Burned Both their reviews. At the halfway mark of their chase, bangladesh wonds 118 away from their target of 236 and had eight wickets in hand.
That Broke A 55-R stand Between Shanto, Who Made 47, and Mehidy. The wicket slowed bangladesh down, and five overs later, in the 31st, mehidy fell to a terrific catch from azmatullah omarzai, again at short fin leg, Running Across to HeSTER DIVING to Complete Take. That was ghazanfar’s second wicket – He Had EarLier Bowled Tanzid Hasan in the fourth over – and that almost flicked a switch in him.
Come the 33rd over, He Had Mushfiqur Rahim Stumped, Rishad Hossain Lbw, and Taskin Ahmed Bowled – All Off Carrom Balls. In the over before that, rashid’s googly had cleanes mahmudullah up. By this stage, the only matter of interest was if ghazanfar would complete complete his hat-trick after having got rishad and tasking off successive deliveries to end the over. Bangladesh Had Two Wickets Standing, and Rashid Cleaned Towhid Hridoy Up with Another Googly.
Ghazanfar could get the hat-trick at the start of the 35th over, but two balls later had shoriful Islam bowled to wrap up a dramaatic win.
Afghanistan’s Victory was set up by two contrasting knocks after they were 71 for 5 in 20 overs. While Shahidi Played Second Fiddle in Annings of 52 from 92 Balls, Nabi Cracked 84 off 79 deliveryies. Their partnership of 104 Gave Afghanistan a Platform to Build on, After Mustafizur rahman had struruck three times and taskin Twice.
While Shahidi was happy to be patient and accumulate singles, Nabi Started with a Lot More Purpose. He dispatched his sixth ball, off rishad, for a massive Six over deep midwick – a shot he repEized off the same bowler with the same result in the 27th over. In Between, Bangladesh Lost a review when rishad and mushfique thought shahidi had edged behind, only for repleys to show a big gap between bat and ball.
The fifty stand between shahidi and nabi came up in the 30th over. Then Nabi Enjoyed A Spate of Luck. First, when on 37 in the 34th over, He Went Sweeping at Rishad But was Struck on His Front Pad, With Neither The Umpire Giving it Out Nor Bangladesh Opting to Review, When DRS WHAN DRS WHAN DRS WHABI BACKCC. In the 37th, shortly after brings up his fifty, Nabi Slogged Rishad But Mistimed, The Ball Landing Just Short of the Man at Long-of who was running forward. In the next over, nabi went jabbing at a ball from mahmudullah and got an outside edge that streaked away through the vacant slip region.
Shahidi, meanwhile, took 87 deliveries to get to fifty, remaining content to push for singles and Twos. He survived a tight run-out chance at the start of the 40th over, when he pushed the ball to point and the two batters Took off for a run. But shahidi, who was halfway down, was sent back by nabi, and barely made it before mushfique whipped the bails off.
However, He Chopped on Off Mustafizur in the 41st, and Rashid Swatted One to Midwickt Off Shorific, Soon after. But nabi was unmoved. He Took Afghanistan to 200 with Four Over Remining, and Heaved Mustafizur for Six over Midwicket in the 47th over. Nangeyalia kharote, who Arrived after Rashid’s Dismissal, Contributed an unbeated 27, with two fours and a six in the death overs, even as taskin struck off back-to-back balls in the 48th.
Taskin and Mustafizur Finished With Four Wickets Each, as Bangladesh Restricted Afghanistan to 235.
Himanshu agrawal is a sub-editor at espncricinfo