Bangladesh won their first T20I international series against Afghanistan by six wickets in the second match, which was cut short by rain yesterday at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Taskin Ahmed got his 50th T20I wicket during the game when he got rid of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai up front. The crowd in Sylhet was excited to see how well the Bangladesh bowlers did up front.
After more than an hour of rain, Shakib Al Hasan led by example as captain and also with the ball. He took two wickets and gave up only 15 runs in three overs, limiting Afghanistan to 116 for seven in 17 overs.
Liton Das and his starting partner for this match, Afif Hossain, got the hosts off to a great start as they tried to get to 117 runs. During the Powerplay, the hosts put up 50 runs without losing a wicket.
After the opening pair of 67 runs, though, the tourists got back on track a bit. Liton was out for 35 after 36 balls, bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In the same over, the unknown spinner got rid of Afif for 24 runs off 20 balls, but Shakib, who was later named the player of the series, made sure there was no late drama like there was in the first T20I.
Man-in-form Towhid Hridoy played a burst of 19 runs off 18 balls. By the time he was out, the Tigers were on track, and Shakib stayed unbeaten on 18 runs.
It was Bangladesh’s fifth win against Afghanistan in eleven tries, and they were able to beat the tourists in both games of the series.
The Tigers will play the same team in the Asia Cup and in their first game of the ODI World Cup later this year. Even though they lost the ODI series, the T20I series win will definitely help the team gain confidence.