Twitter Reactions: 19-year-old Afif Hossain transcends Ryan Burl’s efforts in close Bangladesh win

The opening game of the tri-series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in Mirpur was a witness to a number of twists and turns. However, the Tigers, led by Shakib Al Hasan, had the last laugh as they won by three wickets with two balls to spare. And it was the young Afif Hossain, playing only his second T20I, who stole the show. He pulled his side out of the pits and scripted the victory.

Burl muscles his way

The game was truncated to 18 overs per side after the delay due to wet outfield. Taijul Islam made his debut and in the very first ball, removed Brendan Taylor. Skipper Hamilton Masakadza (34) got the innings going. He fell prey to Mohammad Saifuddin. Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Timycen Maruma couldn’t make much impact and the visitors were reduced to 63 for five in 9.3 overs.

It was then the turn of Ryan Burl (57) to take charge. The left-hander started cautiously, but stepped on the accelerator in the penultimate over. He plundered Shakib Al Hasan for 30 runs in the 17th over to bring his team back into the contest. He got to his half-century off 28 balls. Burl was involved in an unbeaten stand of 81 runs with Tinotenda Mutumbodzi (27). Zimbabwe ended with 144.

Afif Hossain dominates Zimbabwe

The Tigers got off to a brisk start as Liton Das (19) played two decent strokes. Bu, then the hosts suffered a collapse. Tendai Chatara castled Liton. In the next over, Kyle Jarvis removed Soumya Sarkar and most importantly, sent back Mushfiqur Rahim for a duck. Chatara found Shakib’s outside-edge and all of a sudden, Bangladesh were reduced from 26/0 to 29/4 in a space of 10 balls.

Mahmudullah (14) and Sabbir Rahman (15) were starting to steady the ship. But Burl trapped the former in front and then took a good catch of Sabbir in the next over off pacer Neville Madziva. In the 11th and 12th over, Afif Hossain (52) and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat (30) hammered 31 runs. In the last five overs, the Tigers needed 41 runs with four wickets remaining in the shed.

Afif and Saikat didn’t lose out on their cool and took the match deep. With 28 runs needed in three overs, Afif smashed Jarvis for 13 runs and brought his team within touching distance. The 19-year-old Afif brought up his maiden T20I fifty off 24 balls. In the last over, the home team needed five runs and Madziva nipped out Afif, but Saifuddin didn’t let any panic set in and hit the winning shot.

Here is how Twitter lauded Afif and Bangladesh