AFG vs BAN | Bangladesh survive scare to win first T20I by four wickets

‌Bangladesh had a winning start to their three-match T20I series, beating Afghanistan by four wickets in Sharjah on Thursday. Openers Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain Emon set the foundation with a solid 109-run partnership before Rashid Khan’s brilliant spell of 4/18 in four overs ensured that the Tigers had to sweat to reach the target of 152 in the penultimate over.After opting to bat at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Afghanistan did not have the ideal start, losing three wickets within the powerplay. Things turned worse as another scalp made it 40/4 in the next over. However, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who came in at three, held the Afghan innings together and helped them avoid the ignominy of a sub-100 total. The Kolkata Knight Riders player hit three sixes and two fours as he top-scored for them with a 31-ball 40. Mohammad Nabi, once again, played an instrumental role in accelerating the score towards the end of the innings. The all-rounder tonked four sixes and a four to score 38 in 25 balls as Afghanistan ended at 151/9 in their allotted 20 overs. For the Tigers, Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Hasan Sakib picked up 2/33 and 2/34, respectively.

In reply, Bangladesh started convincingly, with Tanzid and Emon giving the team a solid start. Emon did the bulk of the scoring with two sixes off Nabi and a four off Rashid Khan in the last over of the powerplay to take them to 50/0. The pair kept their aggression intact and continued to find boundaries despite captain Rashid sticking to spin from both ends. The duo hit a six each to welcome Sharafuddin Ashraf into the attack with 18 runs in his first over, as the side were cruising at 104, without losing a wicket, after 11 overs. Emon completed his half-century in 35 balls and had four fours and three sixes in his knock, while Tanzid reached his fifty in 34 balls.  But once left-arm pacer Fareed Ahmad dismissed Emon (54), Rashid sprang into action with two consecutive double-wicket overs. Fellow opener Tanzid (51), Saif Hassan, Jaker Ali, and Shamim Hossain all fell victim to the leg-spinner’s guile as the Tigers lost six wickets for just nine runs. With 34 more runs required from 26 balls, Nurul Hassan and Rishad ensured there was no panic, with their unbeaten partnership taking Bangladesh past the target. Nurul was severe on Azmatullah Omarzai, smashing two sixes in the penultimate over before Rishad’s four in the same over took them to 153/6 with eight balls to spare.