Rashid Khan finished with figures of 3-13 off three overs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan took three wickets during a highly economical spell to lead his side to a comfortable 45-run win over Bangladesh in the first-ever Twenty20 International to be held in Dehradun.
Being put in to bat first, Afghanistan made an excellent start to their innings as openers Mohammad Shahzad and Usman Ghani amassed a 62-run partnership before Ghani was clean bowled by Rubel Hossain for 26.
Shahzad went on to make 40 off 37 balls, which included five boundaries, before he was caught by Mahmudullah at backward point off the bowling of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.
Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi fell shortly after, but Samiullah Shenwari and captain Asghar Stanikzai stabilised the innings with a 44-run stand before Shenwari was dismissed by Abu Jayed for an 18-ball 36.
Shafiqullah provided some fireworks as he hammered an eight-ball 24, while Stanikzai went on to score 25 before he was run out by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.
Even though Karim Janat fell the very next ball, which was the penultimate ball of the over, Afghanistan still managed to finish on 167/8 off their 20 overs.
Mahmudullah and Abul Hasan picked up two wickets apiece, while Jayed, Rubel and Shakib snapped up one wicket each.
Chasing 168 to win, Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start as opener Tamim Iqbal was given out lbw off the bowling of Mujeeb Ur Rahman on the very first ball of the innings.
Shakib managed to make 15 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Nabi, who also removed Liton Das for a 20-ball 30 after trapping him lbw.
Once Liton was gone, Rashid and Shapoor Zadran carved through Bangladesh’s middle and lower order. As a result, Bangladesh went from being 64/3 at the time of Liton’s dismissal to being bowled out for 122.
Besides Liton, Mahmudullah was the only other batsman to make a somewhat decent contribution as he scored a 25-ball 29.
Rashid and Shapoor took three wickets apiece, while Nabi chipped in with two, and Mujeeb and Janat claimed one wicket each.
Shakib was less than impressed with his side’s performance, and said: “Generally we bowled well except for the last overs which cost us the match. Giving away 64 in four overs was not ideal. A lot to do, we need to sit down and look at which are the areas we can improve.
“Obviously they are a good side – they outplayed us in all departments. It’s a tough decision (not to bowl Mahmudullah more). If I had given him one more over and he had gone for a few sixers, you would have asked me why I gave him the ball and not [use] the regular bowlers.
“When you’re chasing 170-odd, you need to bat well, top order batsmen need to bat through, but we kept on losing wickets. Credit to them. They have quality spinners and they stepped it up.”
Stanikzai was delighted to have won, and said: “Every series, every tournament, the first game is important. Today especially, all the batsmen played very well. Shafiq and Samiullah gave us the momentum after we lost a few wickets in the middle overs.
“I know my bowlers, which time to use them. The conditions are good for us, we know the wickets, we know the conditions. I want to congratulate the Afghanistan people and thank the crowd, it felt like we were in Afghanistan.”
Rashid was named Man of the Match, and said: “There was no secret, just keep everything simple, do everything I’ve been doing in the last 2-3 months. I had no specific plans when I came on after 10 overs. Just bowl a little back of a length, not too full for the batsman to hit. In the end I just try to enjoy myself.
“It was a good surface, ball was gripping. Little bit of dew in the end, but with that dew it was gripping better. We just played IPL – it’s the biggest stage and the biggest platform, so the confidence will help you in these games.”