Nabi was named Man of the Match for excelling with both the bat and ball
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Mohammad Nabi’s superb all-round performance and captain Asghar Stanikzai’s vital knock of 57 saw Afghanistan take down Bangladesh by two wickets and bring themselves level at 1-1 in the three-match ODI series.
Being put in to bat first, Bangladesh got off to a solid start before openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar were dismissed in quick succession by Mirwais Ashraf for 20 runs apiece.
Mahmudullah and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim stabilised the innings with a 61-run partnership before Mahmudullah was clean bowled by Naveen-ul-Haq for 25.
Rahim fell shortly after for 38 and Bangladesh continued to collapse as they went from 122/4 to being reduced to 165/9.
With the hosts struggling to keep their head above the surface, debutant Mosaddek Hossain came to the rescue as he made an unbeaten 45 off 45 balls, which included four boundaries and two sixes, to help his side reach 208 before they were bowled out.
Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Nabi and Ashraf snapped up two wickets apiece. Naveen and Rahmat Shah, meanwhile, chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 209 to win, Afghanistan found themselves in trouble throughout the beginning of their innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were reeling at 63/4 in the 15th over.
Nabi and Stanikzai steered the innings back on track for the tourists as they amassed a 107-run partnership, during which Stanikzai surpassed his half-century, before Nabi was trapped lbw off the bowling of Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza for 49.
Stanikzai went on to make 57 off 95 deliveries, which included four boundaries and two sixes, before he was dismissed by Mosaddek.
Stanikzai scored his sixth ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Despite losing Rashid and Najibullah Zadran for five and 22 respectively, Afghanistan managed to get past the finish line with two balls to spare.
Shakib Al Hasan was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Mosaddek took two and Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed claimed one wicket each.
Mortaza was gutted to have lost the match, and said: “Batting wasn’t up to the mark. The wicket was on the slow side, and after getting 20-30 runs, somebody should have made a big score. 240 would have been a good score. Mosaddek played his first ODI and batted really well with the tail-enders. Bowled well too. We will have come back hard. Congratulations to Afghanistan.”
Stanikzai was over the moon to have won and levelled the series, and said: “This match, the credit goes to the team. Nabi and Rashid bowled really well. The ball reversed in the end, but Najib did the job for us.”
Nabi was named Man of the Match, and said: “It was not an easy match. It was not an easy pitch, and playing in Bangladesh [isn’t easy]. The pitch was good for spinners, Shakib bowled brilliantly. We didn’t finish the game well, but hopefully we will learn from the last two matches.”