Twitter Reactions: Shakib Al Hasan neutralizes Rashid Khan’s Afghanistan in Chattogram

The last league game of the T20I tri-series turned out to be an exciting one. Bangladesh and Afghanistan fought tooth and nail in the dead rubber at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. Eventually, the home team managed to emerge victorious by four wickets, beating the Afghans for the first time in T20Is since 2014. Shakib Al Hasan played another match-winning knock.

Bangladesh makes comeback after poor start

The Afghans made a superlative start after being put in to bat first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (29) and Hazratullah Zazai (47) threw the kitchen sink at everything to add 75 in 57 balls. The duo smacked eight fours and four sixes to give the visitors the upper hand. Afif Hossain Dhrubo, bowling his first over of the series, broke the stand, getting rid of Hazratullah. Them he removed Asghar Afghan.

In the next over, Mustafizur Rahman nipped out Rahmanullah and the Tigers got themselves back into the game. Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib got out for single-digit scores. A brilliant Yorker from Mohammad Saifuddin saw Najibullah Zadran going back. In the end, a 24-run stand between Rashid Khan (11) and Shafiqullah (23) off 17 balls took Afghanistan to a respectable 138 in 20 overs.

Shakib comes to the party

The hosts didn’t make a great start as both Liton Das and Nazmul Hossain Shanto perished in a quest to up the ante. Thereafter, Shakib Al Hasan (70) and Mushfiqur Rahim (28) steadied the ship with a partnership of 58 runs of 44 balls. Mushfiqur gave his wicket away to Karim Janat. Rashid came to bowl in the 14th over since he was out of the field after he pulled up while trying to stop the ball.

He trapped Mahmudullah in front after which he castled Afif. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq picked up Sabbir Rahman to exert pressure on the opposition. At the other end, Shakib got to his ninth T20I fifty off 34 balls. With 27 runs needed off the last three overs, Shakib and Mosaddek Hossain (19) smacked Rashid for 18 runs to make the game a one-sided affair. Mosaddek hit the winning shot.

Here is how Twitter lauded Shakib Al Hasan and Bangladesh on the thumping victory