Bangladesh v Afghanistan, 1st ODI Review: Afghanistan go down fighting

Hosts Bangladesh secured a narrow 7 run win over Afghanistan at the Shere Bangla Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the 3 match ODI series. In an exhilarating game of cricket, Afghanistan, chasing 266 runs, came within winning distance before Bangladeshi bowler scripted a wonderful turnaround to finish the match in the favour of the their team.

Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh could not get off to a positive start losing their opener Soumya Sarkar for a duck the first over itself. But, fortunately, for the home side, Afghanistan bowlers were unable to do any further damage.

Opener Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes steadied the ship after the initial loss of Sarkar and added 84 runs for the second wicket. The stand put Bangladesh on the driver’s seat. The pair batted on together till the 19th over before Mohammad Nabi separated them with the wicket of Kayes who departed after making 37.

However, his departure became a blessing in disguise for the hosts as this brought Mahmudullah with the already set Iqbal. The duo further rallied their team together and added 79 runs for the 3rd wicket. Bangladesh looked comfortably heading towards a 300 plus total.

But, Afghanistan bower sprung into action at the right time. Dawlat Zadran along with leg-spinner Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi led the fight back to restrict the hosts to a sub-300 total.

The 36th over saw all-rounder Mirwais Ashraf bring the all-important breakthrough of Iqbal who fell short of his by 20 runs. His dismissal triggered a sort of slump and Bangladesh began losing wickets at regular intervals.

Mahmudullah followed Iqbal to the pavilion shortly. The middle order comprising of Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman turned out to be failures with the bat. Shakib al Hasan, who batted brilliantly for his 48 runs, also left for the pavilion at the wrong time in the 48thover. Mashrafe Mortaza and the tail-enders also could not rally slog in the final couple of overs as Afghanistan bowled out Bangladesh for 265 in 50 overs.

Afghan openers Shabir Noori and Mohammad Shahzad gave a lukewarm start to the chase adding 46 runs for the first wicket before the both the batsmen departed in back to back overs. However, this setback did not hurt them much as the team grew stronger in the game after this stage with Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi forging a match-defining 144 runs stand for the 3rd wicket.

The pair seriously threatened to take the game away from the hosts. Both batted for close to 33 overs and deeply frustrated the Bangladeshis. The pair could only be separated in the 41st over when Shakib al Hasan snapped Rahmat Shah. This wicket brought the turnaround.

However, if critically speaking, the duo did a fantastic job to take their team near the target but they should have probably batted a bit more aggressively. The attacking approach was lacking and therefore, despite playing so wonderfully, their knocks eventually failed to help Afghanistan script an upset as there were still a huge amount of runs to be scored.

The only thing that bothered Bangladeshis in the last ten over was the number wicket which the opposition had in their hands and once they began crumbling slowly, the job was as good as over for them.

The Afghans faltered badly in the last ten overs losing seven wickets for just 68 runs. The match became an open battle when Shahidi lost his wicket to Taijul Islam in the 44th over. Mohammad Nabi (30) and skipper Asghar Stanikzai (10) battled it out n the middle for a brief time and kept the game alive.

However, fast bowler Taskin Ahmed snatched the game away from the Afghans snapping four wickets in his last two overs. In the 48th over, all hopes of a win were buried when Taskin dismissed both Nabi and Stanikzai. Coming back in the last over, he polished off the remaining two batsmen and put an end to the match, enabling his team win the match by 7 runs.

Bangladesh: 265 all out in 50 overs (Tamim Iqbal 80; Dawlat Zadran 4/73)

Afghanistan: 258 all out in 50 overs (Hashmatullah Shahidi 71; Taskin Ahmed 4/59)

Man of the Match: Shakib al Hasan