Bangladesh won the series with one match to spare

Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan by 2 wickets in the second match of the three-match T20 series. With this victory, the Tigers secured the series win with one match to spare. Nurul Hasan Sohan and Shariful Islam were the heroes of the Tigers’ victory in the last storm of the match. 

Bangladesh needed two runs off six balls to win. Shariful Islam sent Azmatullah’s first ball long-on for a boundary. Bangladesh reached the target with five balls to spare.

Bangladesh overcame Afghanistan’s 147 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. The 2-wicket win also secured the series for Bangladesh. Bangladesh secured a 2-0 lead in the three-match series with one match remaining and the trophy.

Shariful was the hero of the series-winning match. The left-hander scored 11 runs off 6 balls at number 10. Earlier, Shariful had shown the way for Bangladesh in the beginning of the match. He did not get a wicket, but he gave away only 9 runs in the first three overs, preventing the Afghan batsmen from playing big shots. Later, returning to bowl in the death overs, he dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is currently Afghanistan’s second highest run-scorer, for 30 runs.

Nasum Ahmed and Saifuddin also played a special role in restricting Afghanistan to 147 for 5 in 20 overs. Nasum took 2 wickets for 25 runs in 4 overs, while Saifuddin did not get a wicket but gave away 22 runs in 4 overs.

Afghanistan elected to bat first after losing the toss at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The Afghans got off to a slow start with the bat. The two openers, Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran, took the lead with ease. Afghanistan scored 35 runs without a wicket in 6 overs of the powerplay.

Rishad Hossain broke the Afghan opening partnership. Rishad caught Atal, who was 23 off 19 balls, and brought him back to the dressing room. The opening partnership broke at 55 runs. After Atal’s departure, Rahmanullah Gurbaz joined Ibrahim.

Gurbaz and Ibrahim have been effective batting. Both of them have also put runs on the board for the team. Ibrahim returned to the lead of the team with 38 runs off 37 balls in a slow batting. Gurbaz played an innings of 30 runs off 22 balls.

Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai formed a partnership at the crease towards the end. Afghanistan came close to 150 runs with the help of the duo. However, they were stopped before 150 runs.

Afghanistan scored 147 runs on the board after losing 5 wickets at the end of the stipulated 20 overs. Omarzai remained unbeaten on 19 runs off 17 balls. Nabi remained unbeaten on 20 runs off 12 balls. Rishad Hossain took two wickets in the match. Shariful Islam took 1 wicket for 13 runs.

In reply, the two Tiger openers Tanjid Hasan Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon returned quickly. Both scored 2 runs each. Tanjid scored 2 runs off 7 balls. Emon scored 2 runs off 5 balls. The two openers returned to the dressing room with the team leading by 16 runs.

Saif Hasan, who was dropped to number three, could not make much of an advantage despite getting a good start. Saif’s innings did not last long, Saif departed for 18 runs off 14 balls. Bangladesh lost 3 wickets for 24 runs. The Tigers scored 37 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 6 overs of the powerplay.

Shamim Hossain Patwary and Zaker Ali Anik formed a partnership for the 4th wicket. Bangladesh’s innings progressed with the effective batting of the two. The two showed their brilliance with the bat. Zaker hit 2 sixes and a four each. Zaker departed after playing an innings of 32 runs off 25 balls.

After Zaker’s departure, Nurul Hasan Sohan came to the crease. Shamim led the team’s innings with aggressive batting. Sohan also joined in. Shamim, who played an innings of 33 runs off 22 balls, was dismissed at the top of the team’s 102 runs.

Sohan remained at the crease. Nasum Ahmed came in at number seven, surprising everyone. Nasum scored 10 runs off 11 balls with 1 six. Later, when Mohammad Saifuddin and Rishad Hossain departed, Bangladesh came under a lot of pressure. However, Nurul Hasan Sohan came to the rescue once again. This time, Shariful Islam was his partner. Sohan’s unbeaten innings of 31 runs off 21 balls, coupled with Shariful’s unbeaten innings of 11 runs off 6 balls, helped Bangladesh win by 2 wickets with 5 balls in hand. 

For Afghanistan, Azmatullah Omarzai took 4 wickets, Rashid Khan took 2 wickets, and Noor Ahmed and Mujeeb Ur Rahman took 1 wicket each.  

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