Mirpur: A terrific unbeaten innings of 84 by Mohammad Nabi and a career best performance by Mujeeb ur Rahman ensured Afghanistan record their 12th consecutive win in T20Is as they beat hosts Bangladesh by 25 runs at Dhaka’s Sher-e Bangla Stadium.
Mohammad Nabi hit 84 off 54 balls as Afghanistan posted 164-6 against Bangladesh in their second match of the tri-nation Twenty20 international tournament in Dhaka on Sunday. Nabi smashed three fours and seven sixes and shared 79 runs with Asghar Afghan (39) for the fifth wicket, helping Afghanistan recover from 40-4.Mohammad Saifuddin finished with career best 4-33 while Shakib Al Hasan claimed 2-18.
Both Bangladesh and Afghanistan won their respective opening match of the tournament against Zimbabwe.Having won the toss, Afghan skipper Rashid Khan opted to bat first. After his amazing performance on debut, Rahmanullah Gurbaz could not continue with the form as he lost his wicket off the very first ball of the match to Saifuddin. Hazratullah Zazai was the next to go in the second over caught by Liton Das off Shakib al Hasan’s bowling.
Saifuddin and Shakib continued to trouble the batsmen as Afghanistan were struggling at one point with 40/4 on board in the sixth over. However, a 79-run partnership between Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi took the tide in Afghanistan’s favor as the duo dominated the Bangladeshi bowlers. Nabi, in particular played an explosive knock of 84 runs that included seven maximums and 3 fours earning him the player of the match award at the end of the match.In response, Bangladesh started in a similar fashion to Afghanistan’s losing both their openers within the first two overs. Shakib al Hasan was the third one to go getting caught by Rashid Khan off Mujeeb ur Rahman’s bowling for 15.
The wickets continued to fall for Bangladesh as Mujeeb ur Rahman registered his best figures in T20Is finishing with 15/4 off his 4 overs.Bangladesh were briefly in the game when Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman added 58 runs for the fifth wicket before Gulbadin Naib broke the partnership. Fareed Malik took the wicket of Mustafizur Rahman off the second last ball of the match as Afghanistan beat their own record of most consecutive wins in T20Is. (Agencies)
