AFG vs BAN 1st T20, BAN vs AFG 2023

Chasing a challenging score of 155, Rony Talukdar opened his account with an alluring drive before Fazalhaq Farooqi cleaned up the right-hander with a magnificent nip-backer and gave an early setback to the hosts. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das revived the innings after the early departure of Talukdar 4(5) but their progress was halted by Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who had the woods over Shanto 14(12). The Afghan bowlers were disciplined inside the powerplay and only conceded 37 runs off the first 6 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai used the extra bounce to his advantage and got rid of Litton Das as the right-hander departed after a scratchy knock of 14(12). 

Shakib Al Hasan released some pressure after a slight rain interruption and played deftly alongside Towhid Hridoy. However, just when a partnership was starting to build for the hosts, Shakib 19(17) holed out in the deep and levelled the contest again. Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain kept pegging away and batted sensibly. The left-right duo swatted 21 runs off the 13th over and changed the entire complexion of the game. Both Hridoy 47*(32) and Hossain 33(25) stitched a crucial 73-run partnership for the 5th wicket before Bangladesh’s innings went haywire courtesy of a sensational Hat-Trick from Karim Janat in the last over. Shoriful Islam held his nerves and finished the game with a boundary eventually but the visitors almost pulled off a miraculous victory.

Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai started the Afghanistan innings but just when they were starting to take the aggressive route, Nasum Ahmed broke the 16-run opening partnership as Zazai 8(10) holed out to square leg. Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a breezy knock of 16(11) before the right-hander threw his wicket. Shoriful Islam attained the third wicket of the powerplay by outwitting Ibrahim Zadran 8(6) for the fourth time in the tour. Tottering at 32/3, Mohammad Nabi went into a counterattacking mode and tried to stabilize the innings but the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals. 

The changing point in the innings arrived when Azmatullah Omarzai joined forces with Nabi and forged a quick 56-run partnership for the 6th wicket. Omarzai was the primary aggressor in the partnership and aggregated an audacious 33(18), which included 4 maximums to his credit. Nabi also pushed the pedal at the right juncture and brought up his 5th half-century in T20Is. His 54*(40) helped Afghanistan to register a competitive total. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan was the most successful bowler for the home side and finished his stint with the figures of 2/27. Stick around for the post-match presentation!