From 120/2 to 143 allout, Bangladesh collapsed in dramatic fashion to give Afghanistan a handsome 92-run win in the first ODI in Sharjah. The Afghanistan spinners were all over the Bangladesh batters. This was after veteran Mohammad Nabi propelled Afghanistan to a fighting score of 235.
After opting to bat first, Afghanistan had a stuttering start. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed in the second over as the Afghan wicket-keeper batter edged one to the keeper to give Taskin Ahmed his first wicket.
Sediqullah Atal looked in decent touch as he got to 20 off 24 balls. Mustafizur Rahman struck in his first over as he removed Rahmat Shah who looked scratchy in his 13-ball stay at the crease. The Bangladesh left-arm pacer then took two wickets in his second over. He got rid of Atal, pinning him LBW before Azmatullah Omarzai nicked one to the keeper.
Afghanistan were reeling at 35/4 in the 10th over. Gulbadin Naib joined skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi in the middle and shared a 36-run stand. Taskin came back and got the wicket of Gulbadin in his second spell.
Just when Bangladesh looked like dominating the game, Nabi walked in and shifted gears. The veteran off-spinning all-rounder struck boundaries regularly to put the pressure back on Bangladesh while Shahidi held one end up. The duo kept the scoreboard ticking and shared a superb 104-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Both batters notched up half-centuries and it was once again Mustafizur who broke the partnership. The Afghanistan captain chopped one back onto his stumps to give Mustafizur his fourth wicket.
Rashid Khan didn’t last long either as he was out for 10. Nabi struck a few more boundaries before he holed out to deep square-leg for 84. Nangeyalia Kharote played a very good cameo towards the end as he made an unbeaten 27 off 28 balls. That pushed Afghanistan’s total to 235 as they were bowled out in the final over.
Bangladesh start well before Afghanistan take 8 wickets for 23 runs
In reply, Bangladesh lost Tanzid Hasan early. Off-spinner Allah Ghazanfar knocked over Hasan with a carrom ball. But a couple of 50-run stands put Bangladesh back on track. First, it was Soumya Sarkar along with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto who shared a 53-run stand. Both left-handers used the powerplay well as Bangladesh reached 54/1 in 10 overs.
Omarzai gave Afghanistan a much-needed breakthrough as he got Sarkar to top-edge a pull shot. Mehidy Hasan Miraz walked in at No. 4 and was dropped a couple of times. He just couldn’t get going but Shanto at the other end, scored relatively freely. He rotated the strike well and found the odd boundary.
Nabi who had gone off the field after bowling just two balls in his first over returned to dismiss Shanto and break the 55-run stand. That started the collapse. Ghazanfar who bowled four overs with the new ball, came in and dismantled the Bangladesh batting line-up. He ran through them in a jiffy with some aid from Rashid Khan.
The 18-year-old off-spinner got the wicket of Mehidy before Rashid knocked over Mahmudullah with a beautiful googly. Ghazanfar then took three in an over to complete his maiden five-wicket haul to kill the contest. Afghanistan quickly wrapped up the game and won by 92 runs.
Bangladesh lost eight wickets for 23 runs and their last seven wickets fell in a mere 3.5 overs (for just 11 runs). Ghazanfar was the star with the ball, returning with figures of 6/26 from just 6.3 overs. Rashid was excellent as well, picking up two key wickets.
Afghanistan go 1-0 in the three-match ODI series. They have won their last two ODI series, including a historic 2-1 series win over South Africa.
BRIEF SCORES: Afghanistan 235 (Mohammad Nabi 84, Hashmatullah Shahidi 52, Taskin Ahmed 4/53, Mustafizur Rahman 4/58) beat Bangladesh 143 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 47, Soumya Sarkar 33, Allah Ghazanfar 6/26, Rashid Khan 2/28) by 92 runs.
